Boris Island

[Kayleigh]

What an idiotic devastating to wildlife moronic idea this is.

'Boris Island' airport plan grounded over Johnson's briefing to Telegraph | Politics | guardian.co.uk

I don't want to get into the politics of this just the environmental and wildlife damage such a scheme would cause.

Aircraft would, however, have to contend with the multitudes of birds that flock in the area – a hazard to aviation and an issue that has brought opposition from environmental groups. The RSPB said it was a vital habitat for wildfowl and wading birds. Balpa, the pilots' union, said it would seek reassurances on the dangers posed by birdstrikes, as well as potential air traffic conflicts with Brussels, Heathrow and London City airports.

[Wild-Woman]

Kent enviromentalists will be gearing up for another fight. We're veterans after the Cliffe. We won't let it happen.
We're under threat of thousands of more homes, a possible new Thames crossing and now this.
The impact on wildlife, wild-spaces and people of Kent would be immeasurable.

[Deb London]

Frightening. I would love to hear Johnson's thoughts about the potential destruction of wildlife.

[Ukwildlifeo]

It is perhaps the stupidist idea Ive ever heard!

I remember last time they announced it, the day after the plane crash landed in the hudson after a bird strike.

Would make much more sense to build where there are already existing links and airport facilities - like Heathrow or even one of those other 3 airport near London!

And the binal and perhaps most important point: with the rising fuel costs and the EU airport tax combined with falling incomes, air travel will soon be unaffordable to most folks so demand may even fall rather than rise. Look at the travel companies going bust already with the lack of custom. Another crazy waste of money scheme.

If they want to create jobs a Thames crossing with railway and road would be far more useful! Just make sure it links two towns and doesnt got straight through onr of the nature reserves!

[loripo]

As with the HS2 proposal I would like to know just who will profit from these schemes, who'll get the contracts, the backhanders and the bonuses. Not the people who homes and lives are destroyed. I despair to think that Britain will just be a concreted over hub to enable the rich and famous to gad about. We have such a beautiful country... what's wrong with preserving it as it is.

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

What an idiotic devastating to wildlife moronic idea this is.

I'm afraid that's what happens when you vote an idiotic moron into a position of power.

The cost of the airport alone would monumental - the Kansai Island airport in Japan has cost in excesss of the current day price equivalent of £20 billion and although a Thames Estuary site may be slightly less challenging in engineering terms than Kansai there are still huge problems. The issue doesn't just relate to the construction site, there's also the question of the quarry source for the millions of tones of stone and concrete reinforcing that will be required to stabalise the soft underlying strata and surface muds and clays: http://www.archaeologyse.co.uk/Repor...n-Pipeline.pdf

Sea cliff quarries will be the most economic to exploit and that means a substantial ingress that will affect both cliff dwelling and marine flora and fauna, somewhere on the UK or continental coast.

Even with the offshore/near shore construction problems dealt with, there is then the cost and impact of building road and rail links to the new airport, something that will involve further £billions, and huge social impact quite apart from any wildlife concern.

One of the saving graces of the HS2 proposal is that it would make accessible the spare capacity at Birmingham airport, to London based passengers. Whatever the problems with HS2, if it actually does go ahead a lot of the argument for airport expansion in the SE will be removed.

The coastal airport isn't Boris the Simple's only mad scheme - he wants Wales to be London's source of water so Thames Water can go on wasting a quarter of all its reserves. Boris's reasoning - Wales is is wet and it's higher up than London ! No one seems to have pointed out to the idiot, the engineering difficulties and costs of building 150 kilometres of (minimum diametre) 5 metre (we're talking size of a house to deliver meaningful volumes) pipe that would have to cut through both the Cotswolds and the Chilterns and bridge the Thames Valley -maybe it could share some of the HS2 route ?

[diggleken]

Todays 'Times' has a good, sensible putdown of it by Simon Barnes, who is becoming a terrific campaigner for all things wild.
I like the description of Boris btw Cotham, he was always off the wall, now he's dangerous with it, it seems.
Cheers
Ken

[Deb London]

I liked this quote that I received by email just now about the Greater Thames Marshes Nature Improvement Area:

An early test of all this will be the Govt's imminent aviation review and
whether they side with Boris's claim that we must plonk an airport in the
river in order to keep competing with everyone else to guzzle an
unsustainable and unfair share of the planet's resources.