Rachel Reeves’s dash for growth was dealt a blow today as it emerged a new runway at Heathrow would likely take at least a decade to open.
The Chancellor has put building a third Heathrow runway at the heart of her plan to boost the economy amid flatlining growth and business confidence following her disastrous budget.
But sources said it would likely take ten years – and probably longer – before a new runway would be operational, dashing hopes of an economic boost anytime soon.
It came as the Tories accused Ms Reeves of using airport expansion as a gimmick to ‘distract attention’ from the tanking economy.
The Chancellor is expected to tomorrow confirm her backing for expansion at Heathrow, along with Gatwick and Luton airports, in a major speech on growth.
During a debate in the Commons today, the Tories’ transport spokesman Gareth Bacon said the expansion plans appeared to be a ‘panicked and rushed attempt by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to distract attention from the state of the economy, which is currently withering under this floundering Labour Government.’
He added that the Tories support airport expansion because of the ‘huge economic benefits that that would bring’, but added: ‘A completed third runway at Heathrow would undoubtedly bring economic benefits, which we would support, but delivering it will not be straightforward because there are major logistical barriers to its construction.’
Aviation sources said it would likely take at least a decade to get a new Heathrow runway up and running, with the airport yet to pull together a finalised Development Consent Order (DCO).
Rachel Reeves is expected to tomorrow confirm her backing for expansion at Heathrow, along with Gatwick and Luton airports, in a major speech on growth
The Chancellor plan to build a third runway at Heathrow (pictured) has been dealt a fresh blow after it was revealed it would likely take at least 10 years to open
During a debate in the Commons today, the Tories’ transport spokesman Gareth Bacon said the expansion plans appeared to be a ‘panicked and rushed attempt by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to distract attention from the state of the economy’
Once finished, this would be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, who will advise Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander on whether or not to approve it.
While she is likely to approve it, it will almost certainly spark a fresh court battle over whether expansion would be in line with climate change laws.
Heathrow has already won one court battle, with the Supreme Court ruling in 2020 that it can submit a DCO. But a decision by Ms Alexander to approve such a scheme would give rise to a fresh opportunity for climate campaigners to launch a judicial review into whether it is compatible with existing law on reducing carbon emissions.
One source said: ‘We don’t know what the Government’s timetable is, but before, we were talking about going from submitting the DCO to completing a runway being about ten years.’
The Labour government has vowed to overhaul and streamline the judicial review process, but it is unclear whether it would apply for such major infrastructure projects.
It is understood that the airport will not submit a DCO unless further changes are made to the regime for the fees it charges airlines to use the hub and creating new flight paths for planes to land.
At present, landings and take-offs at Heathrow are capped at 480,000 a year.. But a third runway could increase this to 720,000.
DCOs have already been submitted for Gatwick and Luton, with Ms Alexander set to make decisions on whether to approve them by February 27 and April 3 respectively.
It means expansion at these hubs could happen quicker. However, they may also be challenged by campaigners in the courts.
