Council voices new fears over Heathrow

6.55.57pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 1st Jul 2008

• MOVES to set up a national planning commission to deal with issues such as the expansion of Heathrow have come under fire from Richmond Council.

The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) is proposed as part of the Planning Bill, which received its Third Reading in the House of Commons this week. The Council fears that the move will take major airport decisions away from politicians and hand them over to an unelected body. And with no public inquiry procedure the opportunity to cross-examine expert witnesses on such schemes will also be lost.

Speaking on behalf of the 2M Group, an alliance of Councils opposed to Heathrow expansion plans, the Leader of Richmond Council, Cllr Serge Lourie, said: "We are concerned that decisions such as ones on airport expansion could be handed over to an unelected commission. This is unacceptable as no Minister will be accountable and public involvement will be severely curtailed. We will continue to oppose this plan and also, of course, the proposed massive expansion of the airport itself, involving both a third runway and a Sixth Terminal, with further major increases in noise and pollution that will come in its wake."