Building a third runway at Heathrow airport would wipe out the environmental benefits delivered by the Ulez, Sir Sadiq Khan has warned.
The London mayor, who opposes the Government’s wish for the airport to increase in capacity, revealed his concerns after seeing his decision to expand the ultra-low emission zone across Greater London vindicated.
A report published on Friday revealed the August 2023 expansion of the zone had decreased nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels at the roadside in outer London by 4.8 per cent and carbon dioxide (CO2) by one per cent.
Since the Ulez was first introduced in central London in April 2019, there has been a 27 per cent reduction in NO2 across the capital and a two per cent cut in CO2, showing it is making a contribution to tackling climate change.
Sir Sadiq, speaking on the Today programme on Radio 4 on Friday morning, said: “All of the gains we have made by Ulez would be lost by a third runway.”
Speaking later to The Standard as he visited a children’s nursery in Finchley to highlight the clean air benefits of the Ulez, Sir Sadiq said: “One of the things Heathrow are trying to do is to take advantage of air quality improvements in relation to the impact of runway three.
“It’s not fair to do that, because they can’t benefit from our policies in relation to the arguments for the third runway.
“There are still air pollution hotspots in that part of [west] London. Those will only get worse if there is a new runway at Heathrow.”
Sir Sadiq was joined at the nursery by Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who has campaigned for cleaner air since her daughter Ella became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death on her death certificate.
Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said that Saturday (March 8) marked the 12th anniversary of Ella’s funeral.
Referring to the success of the Ulez, she said: “This is what her legacy has ended up being.”
The mayor also claimed to the BBC that Heathrow, which is privately owned, was “unwilling” to foot the bill for the changes to the transport system that would be needed to build a third runway.
These include diverting the M25 motorway into a tunnel under the new runway, re-routing the A4 and funding more trains for the Elizabeth line, Piccadilly line and a Southern rail link.
He is also concerned at the noise implications for people living in west London.
But a Heathrow spokesman told The Standard that the mayor was incorrect, and that the airport “would fund the changes to public transport that are needed for the project”.
The spokesman said the investment would be “spelled out in black and white” once it formally submitted an application to expand.
Sir Sadiq’s remarks came after he appeared to toughen his opposition to a third runway, telling a People’s Question Time meeting on Thursday night that it was a “bad idea”, despite it being championed by the Labour chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
Sir Sadiq told the public event, held at Tottenham Hotspur stadium: “This is not the right option. I oppose runway three.”
He was previously involved with a number of London councils in taking court action that sought – unsuccessfully – to challenge Heathrow’s previous expansion plans and indicated he was prepared to do so again.
“If Heathrow come up with plans that don’t address our concerns, I’m afraid we will have to use similar methods to stop the runway plan. It’s not the right solution to the challenges we face.”
Bassam Mahfouz, a Labour member of the London Assembly, appeared to suggest at People’s Question Time that the Labour group at City Hall opposed the third runway as it didn’t want to support a proposal that would “put what we have done on air quality at risk”.
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