00:00The government has selected Heathrow Airport's plan for a third runway, which would involve relocating the M25 motorway.
00:10Observers noted that two proposals had been under review, one submitted by Heathrow Airport itself and another put forward by the Aurora Group, led by hotel entrepreneur Surinder Aurora.
00:24Heathrow was said to have proposed a new runway up to 3.5 kilometres long, a project that would require constructing a new road tunnel beneath the airport, meanwhile the competing Aurora scheme was described as a lower cost option featuring a shorter runway that would not require any changes to the motorway known as the M25.
00:53Now, it was emphasised that a final decision on whether the runway would ultimately be approved did remain several years away, although the process has been selected.
01:04Reports indicated that the previous month the government had requested additional information to help decide between the two proposals.
01:14Now, Housing Minister Steve Reid, who has been outspoken in his Build Baby Build motto, has spoken about the Gatwick expansion that is happening alongside Heathrow if the West London Airport's third runway goes ahead.
01:30He answered questions about environmental critics as well. Here's what he had to say.
01:37Well, this government has given the green light to more major infrastructure projects in the first year of this parliament than any other year in British history.
01:47And when I said we were going to build Baby Build to get our economy moving, to put money back into people's pockets, this is the proof that that's what the government's doing.
01:55But we've given the green light to expand. That's 100,000 more flights a year. That means cheaper flights for people that are going on holiday.
02:05It means more investment for businesses that are located around that airport. We're looking at other airports up and down the country as well.
02:12We're speeding up traffic. You know, we're standing here at the Dartford Crossing, terribly congested point.
02:18The pressure will be eased by building the Lower Thames, crossing slightly further downstream on the river. That will get traffic moving.
02:25That means projects like that up and down the country. That means faster commutes that will get people into work, easier for people to get where the jobs are if they're looking to upskill.
02:36As a previous government, we had the economy in decline and we had nature in decline. Both were failing.
02:43We think we can secure a win-win for both. So developers who will be building these vitally important new infrastructure projects will be paying into a fund called the Nature Restoration Fund that will be used to restore nature at scale across whole landscapes.
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