Campaigners denied appeal over Gatwick expansion

Campaigners have been denied their appeal against the £2.2 billion expansion of Gatwick Airport, a project that will involve shifting the West Sussex airport's emergency runway 12 meters (39 feet) north.

Peter Barclay and the group Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions (Cagne) had sought to escalate their legal challenge against the government's approval of a two-runway operation at Gatwick to the Court of Appeal. Their previous legal action against the Department for Transport centered on allegations that the government failed to adequately assess the climate impact of the scheme.

At a January hearing, Cagne and Barclay argued the expansion was unlawful due to an insufficient evaluation of its climate effects. The £2.2 billion project aims to enable an additional 100,000 flights annually by relocating the emergency runway. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander approved these plans in September.

In June, Mr. Justice Mould dismissed the initial challenges to the expansion, stating it was "neither illogical nor contradictory" for Alexander not to reject the 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 arguments concerning the necessity of Gatwick's expansion given its proximity to Heathrow.

Last month, Barclay and Cagne requested the Court of Appeal to permit a challenge to this ruling, asserting that the judge had erred. However, in a ruling issued on Tuesday, Lord Justice Holgate and Lord Justice Dove rejected these appeal bids.

Their 29-page ruling concluded: "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 senior judges further described the previous ruling as "detailed and thorough."

Gatwick, the UK's second busiest airport and one of the world's busiest single-runway airports, will use the expanded capacity for departures of narrow-bodied aircraft like Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.

Following the decision, Barclay expressed his disappointment: "We are very disappointed with the Court's decision. We took this challenge as far as we could because we believed that the decision to allow Gatwick to expand was fundamentally flawed. It was not supported by government policy, would only serve to line the pockets of the airport and airlines, and would do so at the expense of local residents and the climate."

Cagne commented: "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."

Pierre-Hugues Schmit, chief executive of London Gatwick, stated that the decision to approve the plans "was taken properly and lawfully." He added: "We are also very pleased that this ruling, from senior Court of Appeal Judges, brings to an end an eight-year planning and legal process which has carefully tested and scrutinised every aspect of our expansion plans on multiple occasions. This final ruling means that we can now press on with the important job of bringing this exciting project to life and move forward into the design and delivery phase." Schmit anticipates the Northern Runway project will create 14,000 new jobs and contribute £1 billion annually to the economy.