Government launches 16-week consultation on draft National Policy Statement

Between 2 February and 25 May 2017 the Government is running a 16-week public consultation across the country on its draft policy on the expansion of Heathrow Airport. You can read it on-line here.

What is a National Policy Statement?

A National Policy Statement (NPS) sets out the Government’s planning policy regarding different categories of nationally significant infrastructure. The Government has published its draft Airports National Policy statement which outlines the Government’s policy for building a third runway at Heathrow. It sets out the need for additional airport capacity, while explaining why the Government believes that this should be delivered by a north-west runway at Heathrow. You can read the draft NPS here. For more information about the NPS consultation, including who to contact if you have any questions, please visit the Government’s consultation website here.

What happens after the NPS consultation?

Following the consultation period, the Government has stated that, assuming the decision is made to proceed, it expects to present its final NPS before Parliament for debate and an expected vote in the House of Commons by winter 2017-18.

Alongside this process, the Planning Act 2008 requires Heathrow to submit an application for what is known as a Development Consent Order (DCO). This will include two extensive public consultations on our proposals before the application is submitted. The decision on whether to grant the DCO will be made by the Secretary of State following an examination by the Planning Inspectorate. The whole process is expected to take around 4 years.