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Dear Editor,

Re: Boris quashes claim of airport U-turn

Along with the RSPB, Friends of the North Kent Marshes are wholly opposed to the construction of an airport anywhere in the Thames Estuary because of the immense damage it would cause to the area’s internationally important wildlife and the wider environment.

The whole issue was exhaustively investigated between 2002 and 2005 in the Government’s Aviation White Paper.

All the key players, including the aviation industry, contributed.

The idea of an airport in the Thames Estuary was conclusively ruled out and upheld by the High Court. In addition to the unprecedented environmental damage and the resulting massive legal implications, the investigation found that an estuary airport did not make sense economically, would not meet the requirements of the aviation industry and presented a significantly higher risk of ‘bird strike’ than at any other major airport in the UK.

It would potentially be the single biggest piece of environmental vandalism ever perpetrated in the UK.

The Government would have to recreate any lost or damaged habitat elsewhere before work on the airport could start and even then only if they could prove there is no alternative site for the expansion and it is in the overriding public interest. They would face a legal battle, which could last for years.

Climate change remains the greatest threat to biodiversity and along with the RSPB we believe that there should be no further airport expansion.

The construction of a massive new airport in the Thames Estuary will have impacts that extend far outside the immediate area. Emissions from aircraft remain (one of) the fastest increasing sources of greenhouse gases and the demand for flights should be managed rather than just accepted as necessary.

The Government’s plans for the regeneration of the Thames Gateway are being promoted as low-carbon and stress the importance of green space and the natural environment as part of its success.

An estuary airport would remove any possibility of the Thames Gateway being “low-carbon” and destroy the natural environment.

gillmoore