Heathrow unveils plans for their £30 billion expansion

Heathrow has revealed that they will be further expanding, as they plan to build a third runway by 2026. This will subsequently result in the diversions of rivers, movement of local roads and a reroute of the M25 through a tunnel. Whilst the airport claims that it will cost approximately £14 billion, critics have claimed that the total private investment will be closer to £30 billion.

However, the debate around whether this expansion should be going ahead has been ongoing. Last month the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, along with environmental charities and local councils, lost a court battle to prevent it. Despite this, the public still have the opportunity to influence the management of the environmental impacts that the expansion will incur, for example; creating a Heathrow Ultra Low Emissions Zone, Heathrow Vehicle Access Charge and a six-and-a-half-hour ban on scheduled night flights.

Angus Walker, partner in BDB Pitmans’ infrastructure planning team shared his thoughts on the matter in an article by the Mail Online:

‘Heathrow is proceeding on the assumption that its planned third runway project will triumph over ongoing legal challenges. Heathrow has started its “statutory consultation” on its third runway project, which lasts until 13 September, even though the legal challenges to the government’s policy document have not yet concluded. It is proposing to phase its construction over 28 years, which will not finish until 2050. This is a significant undertaking. Heathrow will have to write to all landowners who may have a compensation claim against the project – expected to run into hundreds of thousands’.

The full article is available on the Mail Online, here.