Carter-Ruck leads Stansted dogfight

Linklaters corporate partner Duncan Barber and Carter-Ruck, who both live near to the airport, comprise the self-styled legal subcommittee of campaign group Stop Stansted Expansion.
Carter-Ruck told The Lawyer that the group was due to lodge an application for a judicial review of the Government's consultation paper proposing a third runway at Heathrow and up to three more at Stansted.
Counsel at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square, acting for the campaign, three local authorities opposing the proposals, and the Government, believe it is the first time there has been an application to judicially review a consultation paper, as opposed to a white paper stating Government policy.
Carter-Ruck has lived in Great Hallingbury, a small village near Bishop Stortford in Hertfordshire, since 1944. He has been an ardent campaigner against Stansted Airport and pointed to the findings of a 1960 inquiry, which stated that an airport at Stansted would be a calamity.
"I think the proposals are outrageous," he stated. "The whole process of Stansted expansion is disingenuous and ignores human rights and the suffering residents face from noise."
The legal committee has instructed Charles Russell associate Helen Adlard, who is using 4-5 Gray's Inn Square barristers John Hobson QC and Lisa Busch.
Medway Council and Kent County Council, represented by John Steel QC, Robert White and Stephen Whale, all of 4-5 Gray's Inn Square, have been given permission for a judicial review of the consultation paper. They are leading the fight against proposals for a new £11.5bn four-runway airport at Cliffe on the north Kent coast.
Essex County Council, which is expected to apply for a judicial review next week, is represented by Brian Ash QC and Thomas Hill, also of 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.
Two further tenants from the same set, Timothy Corner QC and Robert Palmer, are acting for the Government.