Keir Starmer has tasked a Conservative peer with writing a new planning bill to remove the ability for environmental groups to delay projects such as Heathrow’s third runway with judicial reviews.
The Guardian understands that leaving the Aarhus convention is being discussed as an option. This is an international treaty signed up to by the EU and other countries in Europe, which protects the right for campaigners to bring legal claims against large infrastructure projects such as waste plants, nuclear power stations and motorways.
Doing this would “destabilise Britain’s constitution” and silence legitimate objections, leading planning lawyers have warned….
…Charles Banner KC has been asked by the prime minister to find a way to remove the cap on costs for groups bringing a judicial review. He has previously worked on human rights cases with Starmer, and is considered an expert on judicial reviews. He has worked on cases involving Heathrow and Stansted airports, as well as Thames Water’s Abingdon reservoir. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/27/starmer-asks-conservative-peer-write-planning-bill-block-judicial-reviews?fbclid=IwY2xjawNF1UJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHo8UZIjrGWo4y65DjUp3u4P4dunUQcyjMzv-K5CoNzck_f_GggPGXBLy8DXi_aem_B6esegBK-vnHkMWij2EDvQ
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