From todays Sunday Times
[QUOTE] New airport in Thames could fly at all hours
Jonathon Carr-Brown
An out-of-town site would escape EU hours restrictions
A NEW airport in the southeast of England that would operate 24 hours a day is being proposed by local councils to solve London's air traffic congestion.
The international airport would be built in the Thames estuary area identified by the government for development, and initially have two runways with space to expand to four. Supporters say the plan could get round last week's European Court of Human Rights ruling that people living near airports have a right to a good night's sleep, by being built away from large population areas.
Although no specific site is identified in the report by the strategic aviation special interest group (Sasig) of the Local Government Association, an airport island in the middle of the Thames estuary has not been ruled out. More likely locations are Dartford or Manston, both in Kent. Manston already has a small airport. In the past, planners have also considered Maplin on the Essex coast, although this option is now considered unviable because of the time it would take to get into central London.
This week, Sasig will publish its proposal in a pamphlet, Does Aviation Matter? to support its submission to the Future of Aviation white paper being put together by the government. Most submissions so far have called for new runways at existing airports. The most ambitious, from BMI, the airline, called for two new runways at Heathrow and one more at Stansted and Gatwick.
The councils' alternative is thought to be the first to call for a new airport and has surprised Whitehall because it has the backing of local government politicians.
Before September 11, the government was predicting that demand for air travel would grow rapidly. Forecasts suggested average growth of 4.3% a year to 2020. Passenger numbers were forecast to rise from 160m in 1998 to 333m in 2015 and 401m in 2020.
Experts still expect these figures to be met, but are sceptical that a new international airport in the southeast of England is the answer. Sources close to the BAA, which would be asked to build any new airport, said that, even if it were placed on a greenfield site, there would be problems over where to house workers and how to get travellers into London.
Richard Worral, the Sasig chairman, said: "This country now needs to consider carefully the possible scale of growth over the next 30 years and agree on the right visionary solution. We need to get a major shift towards regional airports, particularly in those areas which will benefit from the economic stimulus.
"As far as the southeast is concerned, a new airport operating peacefully for 24 hours a day will be the most sustainable option. It will allow us to rival the French and the Dutch again. It will stop us compounding the problems of developing airports in the wrong place. I believe a site that could meet sensible planning criteria could be found."
Paul de Zilva, an aviation expert for Friends of the Earth, said: "We don't think pushing the problem somewhere else necessarily solves the problem. What we should be doing is making the industry more efficient by getting more short-haul air traffic on to trains."
The government intends to publish the key points of its Future of Aviation consultation process in about two weeks' time. Stephen Byers, the transport secretary, will publish a white paper early next year.
The Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions said: "The point of these reviews is that we rule nothing in or out. We will consider all the options including new airports."
[\QUOTE]
Then they could sell LHR to build houses!!
