The Prime Minister’s local council announced yesterday it had served legal papers on the Government for ‘unlawfully supporting the expansion of Heathrow’.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, alongside Hillingdon, Richmond, and Wandsworth councils, threatened last month to launch legal action against Whitehall unless it withdrew its support for the expansion of the airport.

Harrison Grant Solicitors yesterday filed a formal request to the High Court for a judicial review on behalf of the ‘coalition’ of councils, Greenpeace and a resident of Hillingdon.

They argued the Government had failed to recognise the project’s ‘unlawful’ air quality impacts and that the consultation held to make the decision was ‘fundamentally flawed’.

Cllr Simon Dudley, leader of Windsor & Maidenhead, said: ‘The Royal Borough has been very consistent in saying it will hold Government to account for its decision and seek to protect our residents from the public health risks of an expanded Heathrow Airport.

‘Our involvement in this legal action seeks to achieve those objectives, and in addition our long standing objections to and manifesto commitments to resist the expansion of Heathrow Airport and protect our residents.’

William Eichler

Editors Note: Instead of pushing ahead with an expansion of Heathrow that it seems few people want and would over-heat the south-east & London economy, the Government should be backing an expansion of Birmingham airport that would help the economy north of Watford Gap!

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