MD1334 Direction to TfL in relation to aviation issues

In December 2013, the Government appointed Airports Commission (the Commission) published its interim findings, namely:

1. Those short to medium term interventions deemed necessary to make the best use of the UK’s current airport infrastructure.
2. That there should be a net increase in runway capacity in the south east of England by 2030
3. That three options for providing additional runway capacity should be placed on a formal shortlist, with further work to be completed in the next phase between January 2014 and summer 2015:

• One new runway at Heathrow Airport (proposed by Heathrow Airport Ltd)
• Double the length of Heathrow’s two runways (proposed by Heathrow Hub consortium)
• One new runway at Gatwick Airport (proposed by Gatwick Infrastructure Partners)

4. That the option of a new airport in the Inner Thames Estuary (proposed by a number of different parties) is worthy of further investigation to consider whether or not it could be shortlisted at a later date (yet within the Commission’s current timeframe of up to summer 2015).

As the policy development process enters the next phase, it is essential that the Mayor continues to contribute to the work of the Commission to ensure that London’s interests are protected and that he is able to fulfil his statutory functions on planning and development, housing, economic development and regeneration, transport, environmental issues, health inequalities and culture. It is also important that the Mayor continues to represent the views of Londoners by taking an active part in the national policy debate and by responding to any other relevant or related inquiries and consultations.

The Mayor is, therefore, asked to direct TfL to undertake the necessary work to assess the impacts of any short to medium term proposals and options for increasing runway capacity in the long term until such time that the Commission makes its final recommendation to Government (summer 2015), and to delegate the powers it requires to do so.