Legal papers have been issued to stop Manston Airport opening and breaching UK climate targets. The challenge to the recent DCO has been taken on behalf of Jenny Dawes, a local resident.
Paul Stinchcombe QC, Richard Wald QC and Gethin Thomas are instructed by Kate Harrison and Susan Ring of Harrison Grant LLP in a judicial review of the Secretary of State’s decision to approve the re-opening of Manston Airport, on the Isle of Thanet in Kent, as a dedicated freight airport.
They claim that the Secretary of State overturned the recommendation of the Examining Authority to refuse development consent. Manston Airport has been disused since it was formally closed in 2014.
the question is: Do the new owners have the financial means to fight this legal challenge?
The claim, contends that the Secretary of State’s analysis of the need for the development was flawed, and that moreover, the Secretary of State failed to discharge his duty to ensure that the net UK carbon account for the year 2050 is at least 100% lower than the 1990 baseline (“Net Zero”), under section 1 of the Climate Change Act 2008.
Manston Airport is the first ever proposed airport development to go through the DCO examination process, and the claim is the first challenge to an airport DCO.
The claim has been issued at the High Court: the Defendant and Interested Party (RSP) now have until 11th September to file an acknowledgement of service indicating whether they wish to contest the claim and, if so, setting out their summary grounds for doing so.
