R(Bristol Airport Action Network) v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (expansion of Bristol Airport) - Other

judgment

R(Bristol Airport Action Network) v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (expansion of Bristol Airport) - judgment

Filing Year For Action

In February 2022, planning permission was granted for the expansion of Bristol Airport. The decision  permitted an extra 2 million passengers per year, an increase of 20%. The decision was made on behalf of the Secretary of State by a panel of planning inspectors, and  was challenged on public law grounds by a network of members of environmental organisations and of local residents.

In January 2023, the High Court gave judgment, dismissing the claim, including the five climate-related grounds that were advanced:
The panel did not err in its interpretation of local planning policies. It was entitled to conclude that these policies did not directly address aviation emissions. The panel’s reasoning was lawful. (Paragraphs 56 to 95.)
Nor did the panel err in its interpretation of national policy on ‘Making best use of existing runways’, and its reasoning for this interpretation was lawful. The panel considered whether the predicted aviation emissions would have a material impact on the government's ability to meet its climate change targets and budgets. This was appropriate given the judgment in R(Goesa Ltd) v Eastleigh Borough Council [2002] EWHC 1221. (Paragraphs 96 to 121.)
The panel did not err in its approach to paragraph 188 of the National Planning Policy Framework. Under that policy the focus of planning decisions should be on whether proposed development is an acceptable use of land, rather than on the control of emissions where these are subject to separate pollution control regimes. Paragraph 188 goes on to say that planning decisions should assume that these other regimes will operate effectively. When applying this policy the panel was entitled to treat the Climate Change Act 2008 as a "separate pollution control regime”. (Paragraphs 122 to 152.)
The panel was entitled to give no weight to evidence that the increased emissions would consume a local carbon budget for the council area. It reached this conclusion on the ground that such budgets have no basis either in law or in policy. That was rational and lawful. (Paragraph 153 to 176.)
Nor did the panel’s approach to the impact of non-CO2 emissions from aircraft breach the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations 2017. The panel was entitled, in the exercise of its planning judgement, to refuse to make use of an official multiplier of 1.9 designed to take account of non-CO2 effects. On this the Climate Change Committee’s attitude was plainly of high relevance, and the Committee’s view was that non-CO2 emissions should not be included within the UK’s net zero target. Further, the developer’s environmental statement was lawful. There currently exist scientific uncertainties in assessing non-CO2 effects. It was open to those preparing the environmental statement to decide, as they did, to leave non-CO2 emissions to be dealt with until when the science enables them to be brought into account for the purposes of the Climate Change Act. As was the case in R(Friends of the Earth Ltd) v Heathrow Airport Limited [2020] UKSC 52, there was no "space" in the present case for the operation of the precautionary principle. (Paragraphs 177 to 198.)

In May 2023, it was reported that the Court of Appeal had refused the claimant permission to appeal the High Court’s ruling, bringing the litigation to an end.

In total, there were of six grounds that the Claimants brought up. The claimants also challenged the panel’s approach to impacts on a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) relating to horseshoe bats. The Claimants also challenged the panel’s approach to impacts on a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) relating to horseshoe bats and breed. The sixth ground
was also dismissed.

R(Bristol Airport Action Network) v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (expansion of Bristol Airport)

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

R(Bristol Airport Action Network) v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (expansion of Bristol Airport) - Other

Target

Economic sector

Finance