Enlarge imageBy Tim Castle
LONDON (Reuters) - The government has postponed until January a decision on whether to build a third runway at Heathrow, Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Thursday.
A decision on the hotly debated project had previously been promised for the end of 2008.
Hoon, appointed in October, said he wanted to give proper consideration to 70,000 responses to a consultation on expanding the airport, a project which green pressure groups and local residents oppose on noise and environmental grounds.
"I know that there are strong views across a range of interests," he said in a written statement to parliament.
"I will ensure that I give proper consideration to the evidence before me and will therefore take more time before making an announcement to the House (of Commons), in January."
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Heathrow operator BAA welcomed the move.
"Given the complexity of the issues involved, we understand why the government is taking further time to consider these matters," a spokesman said.
The Conservatives have said they would not expand Heathrow and would build high-speed rail links instead should they win the next election.
Construction of a third runway at Heathrow, west of London, would involve demolishing the village of Sipson, including around 700 homes.
London Mayor Boris Johnson wants to look at the possibility of building a completely new airport on the Thames Estuary.
In October, Hoon gave permission for BAA's London Stansted airport to increase flight capacity by 10 percent, overruling a local authority which had banned the expansion on environmental grounds.
Friends of the Earth said they hoped ministers were waking up to the "massive environmental consequences."
"Building new runways will cause a huge increase in emissions that will make it all but impossible to meet our targets for tackling climate change," said the group's aviation campaigner Richard Dyer.
But the London Chamber of Commerce expressed disappointment at the delay, saying businesses needed the expansion.
"If London is to maintain its place as a leading world city during this financial crisis it needs the best possible airport facilities," said its chief executive Colin Stanbridge.
"One of the most important ways of achieving this is by an expansion of runway capacity at Heathrow."
(Additional reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)
