A group of eco-warriors, whose protests were threatening to hold up a £172m scheme for a new runway at Manchester Airport, have failed to overturn a court order to vacate the site.
Nevertheless, todays Appeal Court victory for Manchester Airport plc was not clear-cut. It was only by the majority verdict of Laws and Kennedy LLJ, with Chadwick LJ dissenting, that an appeal by some of the protesters against the possession order was dismissed.
The National Trust owns the land, which has been occupied by the protesters and which contains trees that need to be either lopped or felled to clear the flight-path into the proposed new runway. Manchester Airport has been granted a licence to use the land by the National Trust.
Chadwick LJ said that the High Court judge had not been entitled to find that the airport company was in de facto possession of the relevant part of the woods. He considered that she had been wrong to take the view that the licence had given the airport company a right of possession and power to remove trespassers.
However, Laws LJ said that, as a matter of principle, he saw no significance in any distinction between a plaintiff whose right to occupy the land arises from title and one whose right arises only from contract.
Dutton and others v Manchester Airport plc Court of Appeal (Kennedy, Chadwick and Laws LJJ), 23 February 1999
PLS News 23/2/99
