In reply to Libertine Winno:
Easy to say when you live in Hertfordshire!
Please explain how (with all it's drawbacks) an estuary airport on reclaimed land affects more people than a 4 runway airport built somewhere along the M4.
Define more benefit - for whom and how?
Less cost and drawbacks, debatable - considering the rise in the cost of agricultural land has outstripped both residential and the FTSE100 - CPO's for the land required and compensation agreements/soundproofing for areas affected would be astronomic, that's before you put a spade in the ground.
Not to mention the inevitable public inquiry at taxpayers expense and all the local rearguard actions.
Not to mention the additional cost of upgrading the transport infrastructure, Paddington struggles at peak hours, M4 is a disaster especially at the moment.
Not going to get too many objectors in the estuary, under-utilised HS rail-link is practically adjacent, links to both A13//M2 corridors and even the Thames with high speed river buses linking up with Greenwich/Docklands.
Did I miss anything?