Dear Heathrow Local Growth Taskforce Members,
As you will be aware, following the Government's strong support for a third runway at Heathrow, we wrote to you to announce our investment plans to expand the UK's Gateway to Growth in February.
As the next stage of this process, we will submit our proposal to Government this summer. The proposal is not a planning application, but it will set out the plan Heathrow wishes to take forward and what we need from Government to meet the Chancellor's ambition of receiving planning consent by the end of this Parliament (2029).
Update on Our Engagement with PINS
As Expanding Heathrow has been deemed a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) by the Government, it means Heathrow must apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO). Heathrow's DCO application will be examined by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) and ultimately decided by the Secretary of State for Transport following a statutory process set out within the Planning Act 2008.
In order to meet the Government's target of achieving planning consent within this Parliament, Heathrow has now resumed our existing engagement with PINS that was paused in 2020 as early as possible. This is a part of the statutory process that we are required to undertake. PINS have recently updated their website to reflect that engagement with Heathrow has restarted.
While no decisions affecting local areas will be made until proposals have been submitted and we have received feedback from the government, we are committed to keeping you informed throughout this process and will provide further clarity as soon as possible.
After we have received a response from the Government, we will then consult on our plans for expansion. We remain committed to ensuring that Heathrow expansion delivers opportunities and jobs in our communities.
Being a better neighbour to our local communities
As we progress through this process for our expansion plans, we continue to work closely with our local communities around the airport and remain focused on delivering on our Giving Back Programme pledge of bringing benefit to more than one million local people by 2030.
In all our endeavours, Heathrow's focus is on contributing meaningfully to the prosperity and wellbeing of those who live and work near the airport. In March this year, we relaunched the Heathrow Local Growth Taskforce, which is focused on creating long-term local economic opportunities, chaired by Lord Blunkett and with a renewed focus on spreading jobs and opportunities to the communities around us.
In 2024, Heathrow supported over 50,000 local jobs, invested £90 million in SMEs, and delivered more than 1,200 community initiatives across the boroughs. For more information on how Heathrow continued to maximise opportunities for local communities in 2024, please refer to the infographic below.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to get in touch with me at vickram.chetty@heathrow.com
