A consortium led by Britain's biggest housebuilder is taking the government to court amid claims that ministers have blighted plans to build a new neighbourhood close to Gatwick airport.
Builders Persimmon and Laing are to seek a judicial review at the high court because they say the government's aviation white paper has scuppered the construction of 2,700 homes on 120 hectares near Crawley, Sussex, and may do so for the next decade.
The government is keen that the land, at present a greenfield site, should remain empty in case further expansion at Heathrow becomes impossible on environmental grounds. But that decision may not be made for another 15 years.
The housebuilders and Crawley council, which has included the new neighbourhood in its district plan, say the government is being inconsistent because Crawley has been told it must build more properties as part of the drive to provide more homes in the south-east. It says the government has ruled out the only site large enough to accommodate 60% of the number of homes required. An alternative site is also blighted until Heathrow's fate is settled.
In their legal action - to be heard in December - the housebuilders accuse transport secretary Alistair Darling of failing to take sufficient account of the planning context which calls for more homes to be built.
Persimmon and Laing want the government's expansion plans to include a runway parallel to the present one because this would allow the development to go ahead unhindered. Crawley has a population of 100,000 with Gatwick being the biggest local employer. Under an agreement binding until 2019, the airport can only use a single runway - meaning expansion to a maximum of 46.5 million passengers a year. Last year 30 million passed through.
Two options would be considered if a new runway were to be built at Gatwick. A "close parallel" runway - adjacent to the existing one - would allow Gatwick to cater for 66 million passengers. A wide-spaced runway, sited further away from the current one and designed to operate independently, would boost capacity to 83 million. But business and residential areas would be no more that 300 metres away.
The judicial review, expected to be heard in the next three months, will hear challenges to the white paper from a number of councils as well as individuals from protest groups Hacan, Ladacan and Stop Stansted Expansion.
The government wants an extra 200,000 homes to be built in the south-east, where the population has grown by 10% over the past 20 years. But ministers are also trying to deal with the growth in air travel, which is expected to continue at 3%-5% a year.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport said: "We stand by our white paper and will meet any challenges in court."
