Originally Posted by
Hussar 54
OK....Didn't know that. Thanks for the clarification.
But on reflection, it's hardly a strong business case if you say ' We'll do X providing the Government prevent our competotors from doing the same thing '
So presumably the Nigerian is saying that he's only waiting for a definitive answer from the Government before investing himself ?
Heard that one before - many times...About number #4 on the list of ' How to make things difficult in Africa for your competitors '
Maybe the UK Governent should adopt a ' Show us the money, first ' policy - you know, just to be on the safe side....
The reality is, it's a national planning decision. There is no prospect of raising 10 bn of pension fund etc money to finance the LGW scheme in an unknown planning environment. I agree with the point above that the saga of the last n years (choose your value of n) shows how difficult it is to make such decisions. But if the Govt said ' We are supremely indifferent what happens, over to the private sector' we know that nothing would ever happen anywhere. The way things have panned out, the first decision is whether it is a green light for Heathrow. That is what the upcoming vote on the NPS is really about. If it ends up being a red light, that means that more hub capacity will have been essentially ruled out for the foreseeable future and the question will be where to put more p to p capacity, which is not the question the Airports Commission was asked. I could see a scenario in which LGW vs STN then comes into the picture especially if STN is really a great deal cheaper than LGW.
By the way, and I stand to be corrected, I think the LGW scheme envisaged a need for around £1 bn on the station and some of the upgrade costs on the railway on the approaches to Gatwick. Not sure about the M23.