2 February 2011

Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park, Conservative): Asked the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether any planning application for a third runway at Heathrow would be determined by the Major Infrastructure Planning Unit of the Planning Inspectorate.

 Robert Neill (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government, Conservative): No, subject to the passage of the Localism Bill and the abolition of the Infrastructure Planning Commission, any (theoretical) application for a third runway at Heathrow airport would be examined by the Major Infrastructure Planning Unit but would be decided by the Secretary of State for Transport.

 Sourced from DeHavilland