It’s easy to forget just how long we’ve been talking about a third runway at Heathrow. Time and again, the question is asked – should we or shouldn’t we build a new runway at Heathrow? And time and again, the answer comes back with a resounding yes. Even when decision-makers choose to push the question to one side, as then-prime minister David Cameron did, it comes back again.

Infrastructure systems will always need to balance environmental sustainability against social and economic sustainability. These are sometimes difficult trade-offs, which is why decision-makers will need to engage – kicking the can down the road in the hope that it goes away is never a viable strategy. This debate has already been hugely protracted and subject to delays. We have been standing still while the challenges of climate change and population growth have continued.

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