Thames Estuary airport would lift local economy, says MP

7:10pm Thursday 20th November 2008

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AN airport in the Thames Estuary would help re-energise the economy of south Essex, a Tory MP has insisted.

North Essex MP Bernard Jenkin also said an airport on a man-made island between Southend and the Isle of Sheppey would avoid the environmental pitfalls that have scuppered previous plans for estuary airports.

London’s Tory mayor Boris Johnson is ploughing ahead with investigating the idea, which is seen as an eco-friendly alternative to a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

Mr Jenkin, also Conservative, is leading a cross-party Parliamentary group to lobby the Government over the plans.

He said: “This would reorientate economic development to the east of London instead of the west.

“It will be much easier to re-energise the entire Thames Gateway because of its proximity to an international airport.

“There will be a huge boost for employment and also for big investment in transport and infrastructure.

“The advantage of an off-shore island airport is that it would have no impact on where anybody lives.

“People in Southend would see aircraft taking off and landing parallel to the coast, not over the coast. But it’s all very speculative at this stage.”

Last week, the mayor’s office confirmed Doug Oakervee, chairman of Crossrail and the lead engineer in the construction of Hong Kong International Airport, would head a preliminary study into the idea.

Mr Jenkin said nothing concrete could be discussed until the report is published, which is expected to be some time in the new year.

But he anticipated if the airport got the go-ahead there would be new roads and high-speed rail links, with links to CrossRail, the Channel Tunnel and possibly another bridge between Kent and Essex.

He said: “There are going to be public concerns, but until we know what the proposals are and the environmental impact properly assessed, it’s difficult to deal with these. We need a rational debate about this.

“None of the other Thames Estuary proposals were considered seriously before. Cliffe was a non-starter, it was never going to satisfy the environmental concerns.

“For the past 40 years, we have never had someone of the experience of Doug Oakervee look at this question. If we don’t want a third runway at Heathrow or expansion at Gatwick and Stansted then we have to think outside the box.

“This is a serious environmentally-acceptable proposal and I think my party ought to consider it in due course.”

In terms of location, Mr Jenkin suspected Mr Johnson favoured a reef called the Cant, which is north of Sheppey and south of Southend.

He said an island airport would have no affect on the new Coryton superport and resulting increased shipping in the Thames, nor would it affect the fishing industry.

Mr Jenkin added: “The Thames Estuary is a sensitive environmental area, but this would be disturbing a very small proportion of the overall area.

“Creating a new island would mean there are no existing nesting sites for birds or Sites of Scientific Interest and it wouldn’t be a migration stop.”