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Thames airport 'should be rejected' - MPs report Thames airport 'should be rejected' - MPs report
(about 11 hours later)
The government should reject the "Boris Island" Thames Estuary airport plan and expand Heathrow instead, a report by MPs has said.The government should reject the "Boris Island" Thames Estuary airport plan and expand Heathrow instead, a report by MPs has said.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has argued for a new hub airport in the Thames Estuary. Mayor of London Boris Johnson has argued for a new four-runway hub airport in the Thames Estuary, to the east of London.
Yet the House of Commons Transport Committee warned it would be hugely expensive. The House of Commons Transport Committee said that would be hugely expensive.
The mayor insists London needs a new airport and the only possible place is east of London. It also said it could harm estuary wildlife and lead to Heathrow closing.
But the report also warned the new airport could mean the closure of Heathrow and could harm estuary wildlife. Gatwick Airport said a third alternative, namely a second runway to the south of London, "will be the most deliverable solution and will provide the connections the UK needs whilst minimising environmental impacts".
The MPs argue a third runway at Heathrow is necessary instead and even suggest a fourth runway might have merit. But the Transport Committee said adding new runways to expand other existing airports was not a long-term solution, hence dismissing the Gatwick idea.
A third runway is opposed by both residents and councils in west London. 'Global aviation hub'
The committee said adding new runways to expand other existing airports was not a long-term solution. The MPs said a third runway at Heathrow is necessary instead and even suggest a fourth runway might have merit.
Committee chairwoman Louise Ellman MP said: "Research we commissioned made plain that building an entirely new hub airport east of London could not be done without huge public investment in new ground transport infrastructure. John Longworth, director general at the British Chambers of Commerce, welcomed the conclusion.
"Businesses across the UK will certainly be encouraged by the publication of this report," he said.
"Now it is time for the government to stop dithering and make this strategy a reality."
A Department for Transport spokesman said: "This Government is determined to find a lasting solution to maintain the UK's global aviation hub status."
'Huge public investment'
A third runway at Heathrow is opposed by both residents and councils in west London.
Mr Johnson said a four-runway airport to the west of London would be "politically undeliverable" and would "consign millions of Londoners to unacceptable levels of noise pollution", while a three-runway airport would be "obsolete" as soon as it was built.
"Moving London slightly to the east" would be cheaper, he said in an interview with the BBC.
Not so if infrastructure costs were taken into account, according to Transport Committee chair Louise Ellman MP.
"Research we commissioned made plain that building an entirely new hub airport east of London could not be done without huge public investment in new ground transport infrastructure," she said.
"Evidence to our inquiry also showed a substantial potential impact on wildlife habitat in the Thames Estuary."Evidence to our inquiry also showed a substantial potential impact on wildlife habitat in the Thames Estuary.
"The viability of an estuary hub airport would also require the closure of Heathrow - a course of action that would have unacceptable consequences.""The viability of an estuary hub airport would also require the closure of Heathrow - a course of action that would have unacceptable consequences."
Mr Johnson said: "The committee is bang on the button in saying we need a proper hub airport.Mr Johnson said: "The committee is bang on the button in saying we need a proper hub airport.
"But, by suggesting that Heathrow should double its runways from two to four, the committee is putting four fingers up to hundreds of thousands of Londoners."But, by suggesting that Heathrow should double its runways from two to four, the committee is putting four fingers up to hundreds of thousands of Londoners.
"London and the wider UK do need a hub airport that can operate 24 hours a day without constraint and the only place that is possible is to the east of London.""London and the wider UK do need a hub airport that can operate 24 hours a day without constraint and the only place that is possible is to the east of London."