Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of proposals to expand Heathrow airport on the (a) environmental and (b) financial cost to operators and owners of waterways and canals in the areas surrounding Heathrow.

The Environment Agency (EA) has not yet made a detailed assessment of the effect of proposals to expand Heathrow Airport.

Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) is currently working on its detailed proposal and once this is submitted the EA will assess it. The EA will be responding to the first phase of HAL’s public consultation which was launched on 17 January 2018. The EA will not be able to assess the detailed proposals until HAL submit their application for a Development Consent Order, which they expect to do by the end of 2019.