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R v Secretary of State for Transport ex p. Richmond upon Thames LBC & Ors (No.1), Court of Appeal - Administrative Court, September 29, 1993, [1993] EWHC Admin 1


CO/2110/93
BAILII Citation Number: [1993] EWHC QB 1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
CROWN OFFICE LIST

Royal Courts of Justice,
The Strand,
London. WC2.


Date:29 September 1993


Before:

MR. JUSTICE LAWS

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R E G I N A


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THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRANSPORT

Ex Parte

(1) THE COUNCIL OF THE LONDON
BOROUGH OF RICHMOND UPON THAMES
(2) THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD
(3) TANDRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL
(4) THE LONDON BOROUGH OF HILLINGDON
(5) SLOUGH BOROUGH COUNCIL


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(Computer Aided Transcript of the Stenograph Notes of
John Larking, Chancery House, 53/64 Chancery Lane, London WC2
Telephone No. 071 404 7464 071 404 7464
Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)

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MR. RICHARD GORDON (Instructed by Richard Buxton, Cambridge) appeared on behalf of the Applicants.

MR. I. BURNETT and MR MARK SHAW (Instructed by the Treasury Solicitors) appeared on behalf of the Respondent.


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JUDGMENT




Wednesday 29th September 1993

JUDGMENT
MR. JUSTICE LAWS: On 6th July 1993 the Secretary of State for Transport announced his intention to introduce in October 1993 what is described in his press notice as "A tough new quota system of night flying restrictions to reduce noise at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted". The decision to introduce these measures is the subject of the judicial review now before me. Sedley J gave leave on 30th July 1993. The applicants are a number of local authorities for the areas around each airport. They say that their constituents, or inhabitants, will be adversely affected by the new regime if it comes into force. The respondent is of course the Secretary of State.
Restrictions against night movements by aircraft at Heathrow have been in effect since 1962. Most recently a set of measures was introduced in 1988 which covered both Heathrow and Gatwick. Although, as I understand it, it has been updated from time to time, the regime of 1988 at present remains in force, but it is due to expire in October 1993, and it is the respondent's intention to substitute his new measures (which will for the first time impose restrictions at Stansted) with effect from 24th of that month. Put simply, the existing means of control involves a direct limitation upon the number of take-off and landing movements permitted at night. Shorn of certain detailed qualifications which do not matter for present purposes, the number of such movements presently allowed at Heathrow is 5,750 per year. The Secretary of State's new proposals, however, take a different form. At this stage I shall give only a crude description; it will be necessary to refine it later. A Quota count (QC) is to be assigned to each aircraft type. Each QC consists of a number of units from 0.5 to 16. In simple terms, the higher the QC, the noisier the aircraft. A given number of quota points will be assigned to each airport (12,000 in the case of Heathrow: 7000 for the summer season, 5000 for the winter). Aircraft movements which would produce any excess over the quota limit will be prohibited. The difference between the old system and the new system is therefore this: whereas at present, night flying restrictions are achieved by reference to an express specification of the number of the individual aircraft movements permitted, hereafter it will be done by reference to the permitted maximum number of quota points, and this means that within the ceiling defined by the maximum quotas, the aircraft operators will be free to choose how the quota is to be distributed between noisier and less noisy aircraft; they may operate a gr
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