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BIFA boss cautious over Heathrow runway
[ June 27, 2018 // Chris ]BIFA director-general Robert Keen has sounded a note of caution over the recent vote by MPs in favour of a third Heathrow runway. He said: “Whilst BIFA welcomes the positive news from Parliament…the obstacles that the project still faces leave me with a certain sense of foreboding whether the spades will ever hit the ground.
“Detailed plans will still need to be drawn up, and will again have to go out for public consultation. There is talk of several local authorities around Heathrow mounting a legal challenge, as well as a judicial review. Separate reviews of flight paths and airspace are also required.
“Each new hurdle that appears will only increase delays further and the chance of another political volte-face is ever present.”
He hoped that the vote “does not just open another protracted chapter in the 30-year story of procrastination over Heathrow in particular and UK aviation capacity in general.”
He called for the MPs’ decision to be accompanied by expedited planning procedures, with no reopening of high level arguments and robust handling of any legal challenges.