Plans for third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport have been branded a ‘mistake’ by Lord Smith of Finsbury, chairman of the Environment Agency.
He told the Financial Times newspaper there was ‘a big chance’ the project would not be built, given the threat of legal action from campaigners and resistance from the Tories and Liberal Democrats. While the third runway was given the go ahead earlier this month, concessions include a promise that the Environment Agency and Civil Aviation Authority could block its opening if it was likely to breach noise and air pollution guidelines.
Lord Smith said the agency would be ‘rigorous’ in monitoring these standards, some of which were already in potential breach.
‘We already know that the levels of nitrogen oxide, for example, in some locations around Heathrow, on present numbers of flights, break the limits which will shortly become statutory limits,’ he said. He criticised ministers for making the Heathrow announcement the only firm promise in a wider package, which included other ‘greener’ transport measures. Proposals for new high-speed rail links from London to the North were not concrete, he suggested.
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