There has been a call to hold-off on planned expansion of Heathrow and Stansted airports.

The Government's own 'green watchdog' said it must be postponed because the evidence supporting Britain's aviation strategy is 'inadequate' and the subject of 'fundamental disagreement'.

The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), a body set up by Tony Blair in 2000 to advise ministers on contentious environmental and economic issues, said making a decision on major projects such as the third runway at Heathrow, expected this summer, and a second runway at Stansted on the basis of current heavily disputed evidence was not possible in the current climate of conflict and controversy.

It said controversy over issues such as the contribution of air travel to climate change and its benefits to the economy is so deep that only a special commission, similar to the Turner commission on pensions, can dispel the atmosphere of 'rising distrust' on aviation between the Government, voters and environmentalists, according,

Instead, the SDC study calls on the Government to go back to the drawing board and revise its 2003 Air Transport White Paper, which argued that as long as certain environmental safeguards were met, an expansion of Britain's airports would provide a boost to the economy.

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The SDC report, entitled Breaking the Holding Pattern, found there was 'widespread controversy' over six key areas, in particular accurately calculating the impact on the climate of rising aviation emissions, the economic benefits of higher aviation in terms of inbound and outbound tourism as well as wealth creation, and the extent to which improvements in aircraft technology can reduce or stabilise CO2 from air travel.

Hugh Raven, the SDC Commissioner behind the report, said: "While we expected to find areas of conflict, we were unprepared for the level of fundamental disagreement over the data underpinning the Government's whole aviation strategy. Until some basic questions are answered, the UK cannot be in a position to make major decisions about the future of air travel."

Anti-expansion campaigners said the proposals were a significant blow to the Government's efforts to claim solid evidence for backing airport growth. Anna Jones, a transport campaigner at Greenpeace, said: "Now even Gordon Brown's own environment advisers are calling on him to halt the rush towards Heathrow expansion. It's hardly surprising, given the overwhelming evidence that the case for a third runway has been fixed by the Government and the aviation industry."

However a spokesman for the Department for Transport criticised the SDC findings. He said: "We fundamentally disagree with the findings of this report. It is simply wrong to claim that there is consensus that the evidence base [for expansion] is flawed. Given that the Government has conducted a widespread debate over the last six years, deferring a decision in favour of a further three year debate as this report suggests is not a serious option."

See: Belfast Man To Head-Up Heathrow

(BMcC)