Campaign group aims to keep fight against Luton Airport expansion
It comes after a High Court judge ruled the Government did not act unlawfully when approving expansion plans
A campaign group has said it will continue fighting to prevent an expansion at London Luton Airport, despite a High Court dismissing its case yesterday.
Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (Ladacan) lost its challenge against the Government's decision to give the go-ahead of the Bedfordshire site's expansion.
"It's essential to keep fighting"
Barristers for Ladacan argued that the greenhouse gas emissions from inbound flights were wrongly excluded from an environmental assessment.
The plans are set to raise the airport's cap on annual passenger numbers from 18 million to 32 million by the mid-2040s, allowing its runway to accommodate 77,000 more flights per year than in 2024.
Andrew Lambourne, Chair of Ladacan said: “We think it's essential to keep fighting. We didn't go into this lightly and we're not going to let go of it lightly.
“It’s taking us in the wrong direction as far as our net zero commitments are concerned and we'll add to climate change. For the sake of future generations, we feel it's important to make a stand and to do what we can.”
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio News, he added: "This is a kind of watershed moment for the UK's climate future, because it's not just Luton Airport; there's Gatwick Airport queuing up for expansion and there's Heathrow Airport announcing it wants to do this third runway.”
“We feel that that it's important to get this really carefully looked at because it does otherwise set a potentially worrying precedent for the future”, he continued.
'Government decision not unlawful'
In a ruling on Monday, Mrs Justice Lang dismissed Ladacan's challenge.
The judge found that the greenhouse gas emissions from inbound flights were not unlawfully excluded, adding: "The contested issue was whether it was possible to make a meaningful assessment of their significance when, in accordance with standard national and international practice, the appropriate benchmarks calculated emissions for outward bound flights only, for consistency and in order to avoid double counting."
She continued: "Issues as to which benchmark to use to assess the effects of aviation emissions from the proposed development were a matter for the relevant decision-maker to determine.
"The defendant's judgments reached about relevant UK benchmarks were clearly open to her."
Mrs Justice Lang added: "In my view, the defendant made a lawful exercise of planning judgment which does not disclose any error of law."
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We welcome the High Court's decision to uphold our approval of Luton Airport.
"We are committed to backing expansion where it aligns with our environmental and climate commitments.
"This includes harnessing the growth potential of increased capacity at Luton to create local jobs and deliver growth through our plan for change."
Alberto Martin, Chief Executive of London Luton Airport said: "The plans represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform Luton, unlocking £1.5 billion in additional economic value each year and creating up to 11,000 new jobs by 2043.
"It builds on major infrastructure investments being made across the region, including East West Rail and Universal's proposed development, strengthening connectivity, driving growth, and reinforcing the area's long-term economic potential.
"We continue to work with Luton Rising and Luton Council to agree how our leading public-private partnership can make expansion a reality as soon as possible."
Nick Platts, Managing Director of Luton Rising, the Luton Council company that owns the airport, said: “The long-term sustainable growth of our airport that was consented by the Government in April will deliver up to 11,000 new jobs, additional economic activity worth up to £1.5bn a year and unique, industry-leading, positive community support.
“We believe we have set out the most stringent environmental controls of any airport expansion yet put forward in the UK and are working to deliver the benefits as quickly as possible.”