4th Aug 2026 10:43
(Alliance News) - Campaigners have lost a bid to take their legal fight against the UK government over plans to expand Gatwick Airport to the Court of Appeal.
Peter Barclay and campaign group Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions, Cagne, previously took legal action against the Department for Transport over the decision to approve the plans, including over claims that the government did not properly assess the climate impact of the scheme.
The GBP2.2 billion expansion, approved by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in September, will see the West Sussex airport move its emergency runway 12 metres north to accommodate around 100,000 more flights a year.
Justice Mould dismissed the challenges in June, finding that it was "neither illogical nor contradictory" for Alexander not to refuse the proposed development "on the basis that it would have a material impact on the ability of government to meet its carbon reduction targets".
He also rejected an argument about the need for the expansion at Gatwick, given the proximity to Heathrow.
Last month, Barclay and Cagne asked the Court of Appeal to allow them to challenge the ruling, claiming that the judge was wrong.
But in a ruling on Tuesday, Lord Justice Holgate and Lord Justice Dove dismissed the appeal bids.
In a 29-page ruling, they said: "We conclude that each of the grounds of appeal raised by each appellant is unarguable.
"Neither appeal has a real prospect of success. We also consider that there are no other compelling reasons for either appeal to be heard."
The two senior judges also said that Justice Mould's ruling was "detailed and thorough".
Gatwick is the UK's second busiest airport and one of the busiest single-runway airports in the world.
The expansion will allow the site to be used for the departures of narrow-bodied planes such as Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.
By Callum Parke, Press Association Law Reporter
Press Association: News
source: PA
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