Campaigners are still 'utterly confident' they will defeat plans for third runway at Heathrow Airport

Campaigners are still "utterly confident" they will defeat plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport despite yesterday's House of Commons vote backing the plan.

Speaking after the vote on Monday, June 25, which saw the plans for a third runway approved in the House of Commons by 414 votes to 119, chairman of the NoR3Coalition, Paul McGuinness, said the fact the Tories had to use a three-line whip should send out a warning to Heathrow's shareholders.

He said: "Heathrow's shareholders may well have noted the lack of cross- party unity in this vote, and the fact that members of the governing party only supported the third runway under sufferance.

"There's a long way to go before Heathrow can start knocking down villages and putting spades in the ground.

"And even though one shouldn't underestimate the political risk that will continue to dog this project, we shall be supporting the legal action of our member councils and city hall in which they are utterly confident of victory."

Hillingdon Council leader Ray Puddifoot, whose council will join Wandsorth, Hammersmith and Fulham , and Richmond to launch a High Court challenge to the decision, said the vote showed the government had prevented any democratic debate.

Speaking after the vote, he said: "A third runway at Heathrow is simply untenable. This is a part of London where air pollution levels are already unlawful. The air quality will become significantly worse by adding a runway and all the traffic that goes with it. It seems that this is obvious to everyone apart from the Government.

"MPs should have used this opportunity to kill off this highly flawed project. Instead, the Government imposed a three-line whip on its MPs, and relied on other political parties for support, in order to secure the necessary number of votes in the House of Commons.

"In doing this, the Government has effectively prevented any democratic debate taking place in relation to a huge infrastructure project with such far-reaching consequences for public health and the environment. It is very unfortunate that MPs chose to ignore all the evidence which clearly points to the fact that a third runway is a very expensive white elephant."

The vote gives outline planning permission to Heathrow for the controversial construction of a North-West runway, a significant portion of which will bridge over the M25.

But the four councils will be joined by powerful friends including London Mayor Sadiq Khan, a number of MPs and pressure groups including Greenpeace, to launch the High Court challenge.

It will be similar High Court action that derailed the government's previous bid for a third runway in 2010.

Whilst a judicial decision against the runway would not force the government to back down, it would exert a significant amount of pressure on them to do so.

Mr Puddifoot added: "For the avoidance of any doubt, this will not in any way deter Hillingdon and its partners from bringing a challenge and indeed, it will only encourage us to refer the matter to the High Court as soon as possible. The necessary groundwork for a robust legal challenge will be prepared immediately and we will, now that Parliament has failed us, do all that we can to bring this sorry saga to an end once and for all."

Speaking in the Commons before last night's vote, Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell whose Hayes and Harlington constituency covers the area where the runway is to be built, said the campaign would continue even if the High Court does not rule against the runway.

He said: "There will be a campaign. This will be the iconic, totemic battle against climate change and will attract campaigners and protestors from across Europe. This issue will not go away."

It was a marked contrast to Foreign Secretary and Uxbridge MP Boris Johnson, whose constituency is equally affected by the expansion, but who chose to fly to Afghanistan for a meeting to avoid having to vote against the runway - a move that would have necessitated his resignation from the government.

The Heathrow Airport Limited plan, which will require the demolition of half of Harmondsworth village as well as parts of Sipson and Longford, includes a confirmed £2.6 billion compensation package for the 2,000 residents who will have to move.

Expansion at Heathrow Airport is forecasted to create 40,000 new skilled jobs at the airport, in addition to the 78,000 that already work on the airport site.

Heathrow has promised unparalleled levels of noise insulation to be installed in eligible homes for free, as well as an increased 6.5 hour overnight flight ban and a "triple lock" guarantee to meet air quality obligations.

Meanwhile, the new runway promises to create 40 new long-haul routes and the doubling of the airport's cargo handling capacity as well as creation of new domestic routes.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling is expected to designate the final Airports National Policy Statement approved by Parliament within the coming days, setting the framework for the planning consent application.

The airport will launch another, more detailed, local-level consultation in early 2019 before the final plan is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. The process of approval is expected to take around 18 months and Heathrow hopes to start construction work by 2021 and open the runway in 2026.

Complex debates also continue to rage about whetehr Heathrow can afford to pay for the project which is supposed to be entirely developer led, or the estimated £10 billion in improvements to transport infastructure to an from the airport.