Reply To: Heathrow third runway and Gatwick second to be approved

[JDB]

memesweeper wrote:

The objectors shouldn’t talk about noise or air pollution or net zero. They should transplant some bat, otter and red squirrel communities in buildings currently sitting in the proposed route of the runway. Tunnel your way round that!

The government is already legislating to stop these types of objections blocking projects by allowing compensating projects elsewhere in the same way social housing can now be built on a separate site to the actual housing project. There is also legislation proposed to stop repeated judicial reviews and is the Supreme Court really going to be willing to hear the same tired arguments again? I wouldn’t underestimate the government’s wish and need to bulldozer this project through.

If allowed, Heathrow is already committed to spending about £15bn on expansion and the third runway will more than double that, with any government contribution being minimal so this project is inestimably valuable to the current government.

The biggest obstacles are 1) the regulator, but the government has fired the first warning shot to all regulators by the recent summary dismissal of the head of the CMA and 2) BA and perhaps more Virgin which objects to absolutely anything on principle. They don’t like the concept of the passenger paying say £10-£15 extra, but I’m not sure who they think will pay otherwise; they basically support expansion but only if it’s free…