“We will also continue to talk to all our neighbours, listen and incorporate their feedback into our plans to ensure a new, expanded Heathrow is delivered safely and sustainably”.
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Heathrow chiefs are confident the airport can meet Government environmental targets and will be granted permission to expand after it was announced the decision will be delayed until summer 2016.
STILL OPEN: A passenger enters departures in Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport in London. He said it represented “a massive opportunity… to remove the threat of Heathrow expansion once and for all”. And as far as City Hall are concerned, Heathrow still has a very viable future.
Labour’s London Mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan, was quoted on the BBC as saying London would not forgive Cameron “if he postpones the decision simply to spare Mr Goldsmith’s “embarrassment” during the election campaign”.
The government confirmed the decision after a meeting of its Airports Sub Committee.
The opposition are claiming that the postponement of the decision is due to a political calculation with the Conservatives anxious not to force the resignation of Zac Goldsmith, the Richmond MP who is standing for London Mayor.
Let Britain Fly director Gavin Hayes said: “Having already spent three years and millions of pounds of taxpayer money looking at the issue in a Commission, including extensive analysis on the economic and environmental impact, this further delay is unacceptable”.
“Business will question whether ministers are delaying critical upgrades to our national infrastructure for legitimate reasons, or to satisfy short-term political interests”.
The British Chambers of Commerce described Thursday’s announcement as “gutless”, while the CBI group for big business said it was deeply disappointing.
Simon Clydesdale, a campaigner for the environmental group, Greenpeace UK, said: “Neither Heathrow nor the Davies Commission have managed to convince anybody that they can build a new runway without breaking pollution and carbon limits, which would be illegal – no ifs, no buts”. He said the government was now in “the right place” [regarding airport expansion] adding the argument for a third runway at Heathrow was “in tatters”.
In July, the Airports Commission chaired by Sir Howard Davies backed plans to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
This is the model image of the three-runway project that Heathrow Airport is proposing, but London Gatwick Airport is continuing to fight and the government has come under huge criticism for allowing the whole debate to carry on as long as it has.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said it is a “complex and challenging decision” taking into account air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. The government insures further work will be undertaken quickly so that the timetable for delivering capacity set out by the Airports Commission can be met. “Expansion at Gatwick would give the country the economic benefit it needs at a dramatically lower environmental cost”.
The UK Government has agreed with the Airports Commission’s shortlist of options for airport expansion and the need for more runway capacity in the south-east by 2030. Heathrow is confident that its plans meet tough environmental conditions and will move into the delivery phase.
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A statement put out last night by the Department for Transport says that they need more time to study possible environmental impacts before they finally pass judgment on expanding airport capacity at Heathrow.
