Something of an obstacle has appeared in BAA’s plans to build a third runway at London’s Heathrow airport.
From The Guardian:
Land earmarked by Heathrow owner BAA to build a third runway has been bought by a group of celebrities, scientists, politicians and green campaigners in an attempt to severely delay the development. The new runway would make Heathrow Britain’s biggest single source of greenhouse gas emissions…
The new owners said that they intended to divide up the acre plot into small parcels and then sell them, without making a profit, to people concerned about climate change all around the world. As many as 4,000 people could end up owning the scrubland, which lies behind the car park of the William IV pub and next to an old gravel quarry.
Dividing the land into 4,000 lots would present massive legal complications for BAA and its Spanish owner Gruppo Ferrovial. Even with the weight of the UK government behind the third runway, sending compulsory selling orders to Eskimo in Alaska takes time — especially if they’re willing to go to court. Similar strategies, we’re told by the Guardian, have already been used to successfully protect tropical forests.
For BAA, already burdened with the prospect of a break-up of its UK airport assets and a global consumer downturn eating into its traffic, it’s just one more problem to add to the list. Ferrovial, surely, must be wondering if the company is worth the headache — not to mention the £10bn it paid for it back in 2006.
Related links:
Airport purchasing parity – FT Alphaville
Finding and buying a plot of land – Direct.gov
Buy land on the moon — MoonEstates.com