KCC says Manston is the short term answer to airport shortage
HBM
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The county council says it will still object to a Thames Estuary airport. Kent County Council has said a public consulatation into the idea of a major new airport in the Thames Estuary will put an end to the speculatuion over proposal. The scheme has been in the headlines this week after it was revealed it would form part of an inquiry into airport capacity in the South East in March. Alex King, Deputy Leader of Kent County Council said:
“Kent County Council is very pleased that there will be a consultation on the proposed Thames Estuary airport to give everybody interested an opportunity to have their say on record and to put an end to speculation. We are still against the building of a new airport in Kent or Medway. Building a new airport on land or sea in the Thames Estuary will cause significant environment problems, and the case has not been proven that this is the correct solution to the issue.
We believe that serious consideration also needs to be given to the short and medium term solutions. The building of a new airport will take at least a few years to come to fruitition. Increasing the use of Manston airport could help the government’s initiative to boost airport capacity in the South East in the short term.”
Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Gordon Henderson has also come out against the idea. He said:
“I have written to David Cameron reminding him that in October 2010 he efectively said the Government had no plans to build an airport in the Thames Estuary to see if this is still the case. I have also joined with other Kent MPs whose constituencies are affected by an airport so we can have a meeting with him. My view is this is not likely to happen. It is a political ploy purely to bolster Boris Johnson’s reputation for his election campaign.
People do start worrying that their house is going to be blighted by the building of an airport and that is my main concern as there are vulnerable people out there who are taken in by this story. All the Government has said is that it will consider all options accept a third runway at Heathrow. There are a minority of people in my constituency who may welcome it because of the jobs but there are wider issues than that. You have to have a balance between introducing jobs to an area and spoiling the quality of life for everybody else.”
kentnews 19th Jan 2012
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