Campaigners lose bid to challenge Gatwick expansion at Court of Appeal
Gatwick is the UK’s second busiest airport and one of the busiest single-runway airports in the world
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Plans to expand Gatwick Airport look set to proceed after campaigners lost a bid to take their legal fight against the Government to the Court of Appeal.
Peter Barclay and campaign group Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions (Cagne) took legal action against the Department for Transport over the decision to approve the plans, including over claims that the Government did not properly assess the climate impact of the scheme.
The £2.2 billion expansion, approved by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in September, will see the West Sussex airport move its emergency runway 12 metres north to accommodate around 100,000 more flights a year.
The High Court dismissed the challenges in June, with Mr Justice Mould finding that it was “neither illogical nor contradictory” for Mrs Alexander not to refuse the proposed development “on the basis that it would have a material impact on the ability of Government to meet its carbon reduction targets”.
He also rejected an argument about the need for the expansion at Gatwick, given the proximity to Heathrow.
Last month, Mr Barclay and Cagne asked the Court of Appeal to allow them to challenge the ruling, claiming that the judge was wrong.
But in a ruling on Tuesday, Lord Justice Holgate and Lord Justice Dove dismissed the appeal bids.
In a 29-page ruling, they said: “We conclude that each of the grounds of appeal raised by each appellant is unarguable.
“Neither appeal has a real prospect of success. We also consider that there are no other compelling reasons for either appeal to be heard.”
The two senior judges also said that Mr Justice Mould’s ruling was “detailed and thorough”.
In response, a statement from CAGNE said: "Residents should be immensely proud of what they have achieved in holding Gatwick Airport’s shareholders to account. This proposed new runway will come at a significant cost to both the taxpayer and the planet.
Today’s Court of Appeal ruling is a deeply disappointing reflection of recent changes to the legal process, rather than of the strength or commitment of our legal team. We firmly believed the judges understood the serious environmental impacts at stake, including the lack of sufficient sewerage treatment capacity to support an additional runway at this leisure airport.
The legal process provides only specific routes for challenging a government error in judgement. As a result, we were unable to resubmit all the grounds that led the Planning Inspectorates to recommend refusal of this new runway application through the planning development consent order.
We will now use the remaining funds raised to continue holding Gatwick to account. Our focus will turn to the proposed new terminal, the decline in air quality, and the airspace changes that were not permitted to be considered as part of this planning application."
Gatwick is the UK’s second busiest airport and one of the busiest single-runway airports in the world.
The expansion will allow the site to be used for the departures of narrow-bodied planes such as Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s, with the first flights expected to take off from the new runway in 2030.
Following Tuesday’s decision, Mrs Alexander said: “This is a major milestone for Gatwick and for local communities, with expansion unlocking investment and creating thousands of new jobs.
“Around 13 million more passengers and 100,000 more flights will give holidaymakers greater choice and strengthen global links to help make the UK one of the most attractive places in the world to invest.
“We’ll back expansion that supports growth and our climate goals. To drive forward sustainable change, we’re also investing over £219m for green fuel production to cut emissions from flying and secure the future of aviation.”