Heathrow Hub, the independent proposal for expanding Heathrow Airport via an extension to the existing Northern Runway, has started proceedings to appeal the High Court judgement handed down on the 1st May 2019, which refused a judicial review.
The High Court effectively cleared the way for Heathrow Airport Ltd to proceed with its own government-backed plan to construction an all-new third runway. [See our previous report here.]
Heathrow Hub was one of several claimants seeking judicial review of government’s support for Heathrow expansion. The others were environmental campaign groups and a coalition of local authorities under the flight path.
Friends of the Earth has already declared that it will appeal the High Court’s judgment. Now Heathrow Hub has been advised that it also has grounds for appeal, citing several flaws in legal process, and has applied for permission to do so.
These include: The court did not set out the legal test of overriding public interest or acknowledge that the burden of discharging it lay with the secretary of state. Furthermore, it did not allow Heathrow Hub to address the court on this matter resulting in a clear error of law. The role of the court in a judicial review is to review the exercise of discretion by the decision-maker, not to exercise the discretion itself.”
Heathrow Hub director Jock Lowe said: “We don’t agree with the judgment handed down on the 1st May, which we are advised is legally flawed, at odds with the evidence the court itself heard and gives us strong grounds to appeal.
“We continue to believe that the Department for Transport bungled the decision-making process for Heathrow expansion and that our extended runway proposal is cheaper, quieter and simpler to build than the ridiculously complicated and expensive northwest runway.”
Heathrow Hub is majority owned by 39-year-old Anthony Clake, a senior partner at Marshall Wace, a global hedge fund headquartered in London.
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