THE LEADER of Wokingham Labour has slated the borough council for continuing to support a third runway at Heathrow Airport — if it is carbon neutral.
Cllr Andy Croy said the emissions caveat was misleading, and only referred to ground operations not the hundreds of flights taking off and landing each day.
It comes as last week, the supreme court overturned a February judgment that a third runway at Heathrow airport was illegal.
At the time the government did not challenge the legality decision, as the application failed to consider the climate change targets set out in the Paris Agreement.
Instead, Heathrow Airport led the challenge, with the ruling now overturned.
The borough council, which declared a climate emergency last summer, is supporting the airport’s expansion, if it can be proved to be carbon neutral.
Cllr Gregor Murray, emissions executive at the council said he wanted to see a plan for both runway construction and transient emissions.
“The construction of Heathrow Airport has to be proven to be carbon neutral,” he said. “If they can’t then they shouldn’t do it.
“There is also a role to play with airlines. They can offset their carbon, and I would like to see that included as well — I want to see a plan for everything.”
Cllr Croy said that Cllr Murray is “deliberately being misleading”, as the carbon neutrality caveat applies only to ground works, and not the flights themselves.
“In the council vote, the Lib Dems and the Tories voted for tonnes of extra carbon to be dumped into the atmosphere,” he said. “It’s not like the third runway is just for hot air balloons and gliders.”
He added: “The Tories are lying when they say they’re taking serious action on the climate emergency — its absurd.
“There is no way it could be carbon neutral, it’s an utter joke. This is like an eternally optimistic future that is never within grapes — it’s a ludicrous position to take.”
The council stance was adopted after the Liberal Democrats proposed a motion not to support the third runway at a meeting, Cllr Croy said.
“The Tories amended it to include the bit about carbon neutrality, and unbelievably the Lib Dems ended up voting for it. Only Cllr Paul Fishwick and Cllr Sarah Kerr abstained.”
Cllr Fishwick, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for transport said the party has “grave doubts” whether carbon neutral airport expansion can exist.
He said they’re against expansion that isn’t carbon neutral, and said the government could still scrap the policy decision to support its expansion.
“The supreme court judges explicitly stated that Heathrow airport’s plans would still need to satisfy climate tests during the planning process,” he said. “If enough of us speak out by writing to our MP and objecting to this climate damaging airport expansion it can still be stopped.”
Cllr Croy believes expansion will be “very bad news for the borough” when it comes to house building targets too.
“Economic growth in the Thames Valley drives demand for houses,” he said. “This should be an instant no for anyone who cares about climate change or the borough. You can’t claim to support less housing, and Heathrow expansion — they’re incompatible with one another.”
He said the presence of Heathrow Airport is a major factor for major corporations moving into the area, citing Dell’s move to Bracknell in the 80s as an example.
“This is about what’s best for the area in the long term,” he said.
Cllr John Halsall, leader of the borough council said its position on the runway has not changed.
“We are enormously dependent upon communications with the outside world, Heathrow is an important part of that,” he said. “We’re also enormously dependent on Heathrow for the provision of jobs – Heathrow is fundamental to our economic existence.
“Having said that, the world’s changed with covid and it remains to be seen if that change becomes permanent. The decrease in people travelling may become a feature of modern life, in which case a third runway won’t be necessary anyway.
“We value the economic benefits, both jobs and lifestyle, that Heathrow gives, while we can’t support another runway unless it can be demonstrated to be carbon neutral.”
