Plane vs Birds.
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Cartoon explains result.
No estuary airport!
Cheer yourself up - go to Amazon and buy some more Gary Larson stuff
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Filtering by Tag: Estuary
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KCC says Manston is the short term answer to airport shortage
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NEWSFLASH: the real reasons Flybe quit Manston - click HERE
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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Doing battle with a naked Emperor
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NEWSFLASH: the real reasons Flybe quit Manston - click HERE
Medway Council are ready for battle. CPRE Protect Kent are ready to grab the opportunity to point out that the Emperors of Aviation are naked, and (quite brilliantly) want to inject a little democracy into the process. Best of luck guys.
Cllr Rodney ChambersA fierce opponent of a Thames Estuary airport has vowed to fight all the way to the top as controversial plans take a step forward. Medway Council leader Cllr Rodney Chambers wants to work with the Towns' MPs to secure a crisis meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron or Chancellor George Osborne. Mr Cameron was set to announce preliminary backing for a huge airport potentially off the Kent coast - which would dwarf the size of Heathrow - earlier this month, according to a national newspaper.
It follows plans put forward by both London Mayor Boris Johnson and world-renowned architect Lord Foster for airports on different sites around Kent. The announcement would have been linked in with the High Speed 2 rail announcement, but was put back because it was claimed by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg it was 'being rushed through', according to the paper. Now it is believed the scheme will be unveiled in March, with the Prime Minister broadly backing the plans dependent on consultation.
Cllr Chambers said:
“We tried meeting with Boris Johnson and we were fobbed off with his acolytes. We should use the MPs to secure a meeting with George Osborne and the Prime Minister. I’ve no doubt that those affected by this will be ready to fight against this proposal as they did 10 years ago. If there’s going to be a battle then so be it.”
However, county-based campaigning organisation Protect Kent welcomed the move. Campaigns manager Andrew Ogden said:
"While our views on this consultation may appear to contradict our normal stance, we anticipate that this opportunity to share all of the facts and figures behind these proposals will expose them as the futile schemes they are.
Together with other campaigning and environmental groups, we will be presenting our case against these airports in response to the consultation. We will also be calling for a referendum to be held amongst all residents likely to be impacted by these proposals, both sides of the estuary."
London Mayor Boris Johnson wants to build a floating airport in the Thames Estuary - dubbed Boris Island. And plans were announced in November by renowned architect Lord Foster for a massive hub airport off the Hoo Peninsula, taking 150m passengers each year. The scheme involves building the hub airport - with twice the capacity of Heathrow - together with a huge barrage and a new rail network system: effectively an M25 for the railways, skirting London. If built, it would the 24-hour hub would have four runways, each 4km long. An integrated rail station beneath the passenger terminal would be the UK’s busiest - with 300,000 arrivals and departures every day.
kentonline 18th Jan 2012
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Estuary Airport - hot potato, fig leaf, or white elephant?
HBM
NEWSFLASH: the real reasons Flybe quit Manston - click HERE
Wise words from Paul Francis on the awful consequences of realpolitik and the persistence of dumb ideas. The sudden (re)launch of the estuary airport idea has more to do with Boris' mayoral election bid and recent unemployment figures than strategic infrastructure planning. And then there is the blind faith that an airport automatically translates into employment and regeneration. These apparently impulsive pronouncements from politicians rarely mention the downsides of aviation, and never touch on the fact that aviation itself does not have a long-term future - when the oil runs out, what use is an airport?
There will be considerable dismay in some quarters that the Prime Minister appears to have agreed that the idea of an airport in the Thames Estuary should be fully investigated. But there ought not to be surprise - even if opponents will throw back at him his declaration more than a year ago that the government had 'no plans' to build such an airport. A similar commitment was given to the Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless by new transport secretary Justine Greening in precisely the same terms.
But it was George Osborne who paved the way for the idea of examining the scheme in November when he announced the government would 'explore all the options' for tackling the problems around aviation capacity. Even so, today's news will be seen as a U-turn and a politically awkward one given the deep hostility among his own MPs in Kent.
It is worth pointing out that there has never been any likelihood the government itself would 'build' an airport - that would be for private investment consortiums.
Some will see it as a shot in the arm for Boris Johnson's campaign to be re-elected as London Mayor although I've never been persuaded that aviation capacity is something that preoccupies London voters as much as issues like tube fares or crime. Politically, Mr Cameron will have to confront the fact that among the county's Conservative MPs, there is universal opposition. The Conservative controlled Medway Council remains wholly unconvinced - although there have been recent hints that Kent County Council may not be quite as implacably opposed as it once might have been.
He may also be seen as having performed an about-turn and of betraying those who took him at his word that the government was not interested in the idea. Never an ideal position for a PM or for backbenchers who, in some cases, have marginal seats to defend in 2015.
What has changed? Underlying the news appears to be the feeling that aside from addressing the problem of capacity, a new airport would deliver a huge jobs boost and regenerate a part of the south east in a way no other project could conceivably get close to. Perhaps it is no coincidence the news has come out on the day that unemployment figures have shown another rise in both Kent and Medway.
Those arguments will inevitably have to be balanced against the fact that an airport would have huge environmental consequences. One thing is clear from today's news. Whatever one thinks of the idea, it can no longer be dismissed as 'pie in the sky.'
Paul on Politics, by political editor Paul Francis Wednesday, January 18 2012
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New hub airport for the south-east
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Vince Cable and Alan Willett back Thames Estuary, Paul Carter backs Essex.
A Thames Estuary airport has won heavyweight backing from Business Secretary Vince Cable and one of Kent's most respected figures. With Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne expected to announce today that the government is taking more interest in the controversial plan, former Lord Lieutenant of Kent Allan Willett says it would be a wonderful opportunity for Kent.
The businessman and philanthropist who stepped down as the Queen's representative in August, believes that a new 'hub' airport for the county would transform the economy. Mr Willett, 75, the founder of a multi-million pound company Willett International, said:
"We need skilled jobs and, by God, you build an airport and you get lots of skilled jobs. Kent needs something like that.
Meanwhile, Mr Cable told business chiefs at Leeds Castle:
"I don't have anything against it. If it happens, it will probably solve a lot of problems. If it's feasible and private investors are willing to put lots of money into it, and the problems of birds, radar and over-lapping flight paths with the Dutch can be sorted out, I would have thought there's probably a good reason for it."
Kent County Council and Medway council have previously opposed the plan, preferring airport development to be at Manston. But KCC leader Cllr Carter today conceded there was a "very good business case" for a new airport while adding:
"What has to be talked about is the opportunity for an airport on the Essex side of the Thames."
kentonline 29th Nov 2011
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