London Heliport
The situation for a new London Heliport gets worse. The Mayor in his latest version of the Replacement London Plan actually says "Development proposals for heliports should be resisted, other than for emergency services." He has moved away from the position of Red Ken that allowed for one in east london if environmental issues could be addressed.
Unfortunately this now means that if the replacement London Plan is adopted the chances of London getting a first class heliport will be virtually non-existent. What with the ConDem alliance opposing aviation (particularly in the SE), and the complete failure to get planning permission for other heliports in London (River Thames helistop dismissed on appeal in 1985, City of London heliport dismissed on appeal in 1991, the Thames Heliport plc thrown out through Court of Appeal in 1996, Harrods helipad lawful development certificate dismissed in 2001), it looks like Mayor Boris (or is it his deputy Sir Simon Milton) will now scupper any further proposals.
Add to this the fact that Wandsworth have set up their own website to encourage people to object to noise from the London heliport, and the Fight the Flights legal challenge against the increase in ATMs at LCY which if successful will scupper their expansion, whilst if it fails LCY have made it clear that they have got all the permission they need and they do not want (and could not accommodate) helicopters.
Who would be a planner involved in promoting aviation these days. Would the last person flying out of London please ensure that the tarmac is rolled up once they leave...