New airport at Cliffe

[rex]

Just saw my local rag last night, Medway Today 29/05/02, and it seems that Cliffe has been chosen as the new London Airport. It will apparently take 20 years to build be larger than Heathrow and have 4 runways.:eek:

Rex

[sky9]

We're all going on a Summer Holiday:D

[steamchicken]

shouldn't think so....DOT white paper on this isn't out yet, and the new transport secretary will want to have a look afore he signs it!

[Boss Raptor]

public enquiry...enviromental lobby...+20 years for paperwork...

I was a kid when they were going to build the third airport at Wing in Buckinghamshire...

[Woodman]

And when I was young work had started on Maplin and that was due to open in 1982 with one runway and one terminal plus a high speed rail link and motorway to London. Capacity was available for four runways and ten terminals.

The next paper on south east airports will be published in the next two months, ie just before Parliament breaks for the summer recess.

Whatever else may be suggested my money is on another runway at Stansted. That's complicated enough but anything else just won't happen.

[niknak]

Excuse my ignorance, but Cliffe is where??:confused:

[Andy_S]

Kent side of the Thames estuary, close to Gravesend.

[Ace Rimmer]

The south east regional aviation study (SERAS) is due to be published on either the 7th or the 11th of June. Seras forms part of the consultation process for the white paper which is unlikely to be produced this year (consultation is supposed to be four months which takes it to October can't imagine it will get to Westminster before the Xmas break so we're looking ant Jan Feb for the white paper.

Re Cliffe: It ain't gonna happen the more cynical might suggest that the leak was designed to get every tree- hugger and NIMBY for miles around in a fair old lather (the site is a wetland bird habitat and great gobs of it are owned by the RSPB) so that when the govt says "well we won't build the new airport" but we are going to add runways at Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick that option dosent look too bad. But also remember that Mike Hodkinson has called Cliffe a "ridiculously expensive solution to capacity demand".

The googly in all this may come from the LOX project (trust me when that comes to the attention of joe public and the mainstream media its going to ruffle more than a few feathers) but as yet it not sure if it has been factored into SERAS or will be added during the consultation process.

[Torquelink]

Er - Wot's LOX?

[sclub99]

Good question, my guess would be London OXford?

[rex]

Hi Ace

I must admit I was quite surprised at what I read but I did think that the article was designed for the NIMBY's to get them going.

Mind you when it was said that it would take 20 years to build my thoughts were that the design would be obsolete. Just look at how long it has taken the Uk to decide where the Channel Rail Link was going to go. No wonder our transport system is such a mess.

REX

[Ace Rimmer]

sclub: Bingo

Rex: Actually the leak first appeared in the FT bout a month or six weeks back.

[Woodman]

An interview in the Financial Times this morning (Sat) says:-

Mr Darling also hinted that Heathrow could be further developed to make sure Britain had a hub airport to compete with other European countries. In addition, an expected consultation paper on aviation policy in July is likely to be late.

No further comment than that paragraph