Thames estuary airport is bonkers
The Independent’s columnist, Adam Raphael, is the latest writer to claim an airport on the Thames Estuary is the next best thing to a well-functioning Heathrow.
But a well-functioning Thames Estuary will not be so with a four or five-runway airport plonked on it.
The estuary is home to at least 200,000 birds in winter. During migration, in autumn and early spring, there are even more. Layers of legal protection guard the area. Contemplating an airport in the midst of all that is plain bonkers.
The Thames Gateway - land bordering the estuary - is earmarked by the government for low carbon development. Plans incorporate parkland and other areas for wildlife and ministers see the site remaining good for the environment while being good for residents and business too. It won’t be either unless the estuary stays intact.
The benefits the estuary offers now outweigh the doubtful gains from building a new airport, particularly with climate change such a threat. An airport there would put development plans beyond reach. An airport there would mean no-where is safe.
The Independent
The Thames Gateway