LADACAN obtained a Judicial Review of the decision by Secretary of State Heidi Alexander to overturn the recommendation of National Planning Inspectors and permit further massive expansion of Luton Airport. Our legal team presented powerful arguments during two days of hearings in the High Court. We believe the judgment dismissing our grounds was flawed, so we have filed a request for Appeal, to be heard in May.
The government is gambling with all our futures by granting airport after airport permission to expand, with the additional carbon emissions from each one assessed in isolation and no overall carbon budget for aviation.
No credible pathways have yet been demonstrated to meet UK net zero commitments. Each month brings new evidence of climate change dangers. And the government is ignoring best advice from the UN, the Climate Change Committee and the Environmental Audit Committee to stop airport expansion.
Kicking the can down the road is no answer – and we’re fast running out of road.
Of our our six grounds of Judicial Review challenge, four are the subject of appeal:
1: Error of law in concluding that the Respondent’s treatment of Greenhouse Gas emissions from inbound flights was lawful
2: Error of law in concluding that the treatment of non-CO2 emissions was lawful
3: Error of law in concluding that the Government’s duties under the CCA 2008 comprised a “pollution control regime”
We are funding the significant legal costs of this action by contributions from local people and organisations, and by crowdfunding. The support has been terrific: do please help if you can by visiting our crowdfunding page at this link, or by searching online for “Crowd Justice Luton Airport”.