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10:50am Tuesday 14th February 2012 in Southend
SOUTHEND Council is set to formally oppose plans to build a £50billion airport in the Thames Estuary.
The council is expected to agree a motion to use “all means within its power” to block the bid to create one of the world’s biggest airports, just a few miles off the town’s coastline.
The pledge will be voted on by councillors on March 1.
John Lamb, the Tory deputy leader said: “It is absolutely the last thing we need. We have a thriving tourism industry and a thriving airport. Both of those would be undermined by this scheme.”
Two plans have been put forward for the estuary – London mayor Boris Johnson’s original idea for a floating airport off the Kent coast and architect Lord Norman Foster’s recent proposal for a four-runway airport on the Isle of Grain in Kent.
Previously, the Government has snubbed the idea of building a new airport as an alternative to a third runway at Heathrow.
However, last month, it revealed it was considering the idea.
Mr Cameron was said to be on the verge of announcing his backing for the scheme at the start of the year, but was blocked by Liberal Democrats, who oppose any airport expansion in the South East.
Mr Johnson even claimed the airport would only take six years to build if huge investment from countries such as Brazil or China could be secured.
The idea has been consistently opposed by politicians from all parties in south Essex.
The Southend Council motion cites worries about noise, environmental damage and disruption to the fishing industry as reasons for rejecting it.
It also highlights the problems an estuary airport could cause to the expanding Southend Airport.
Comments(34)
al coniston
says...
11:57am Tue 14 Feb 12
Roy_Baty
says...
12:05pm Tue 14 Feb 12
al coniston wrote:Foster's plan IS what BoJo wants. Both Foster and Johnson can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. If they want to totally destroy and pollute an area then they can pi$$ off and do it in their own back yards.
The picture IS NOT representative of Boris's plans . . . that is Lord Fosters plan !! Boris island is much further down the Thames Estuary and away from the Essex coast.
Echo fail (again)
Campbell's dad
says...
12:23pm Tue 14 Feb 12
supporter1
says...
12:33pm Tue 14 Feb 12
News Bunny
says...
12:38pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Roy_Baty
says...
12:40pm Tue 14 Feb 12
News Bunny wrote:That's right. This thing, if built, will be much, much larger than Heathrow.
How big is it supposed to be? In that picture it looks to be about four times bigger than Canvey Island which would make it almost six times bigger than Heathrow!!
News Bunny
says...
12:56pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Roy_Baty wrote:Why so big? Heathrow has two runways and this four so it should surely only be 2x the size of Heathrow not 7x...
News Bunny wrote:That's right. This thing, if built, will be much, much larger than Heathrow.
How big is it supposed to be? In that picture it looks to be about four times bigger than Canvey Island which would make it almost six times bigger than Heathrow!!
j-w
says...
12:59pm Tue 14 Feb 12
The Cater Wood Creeper
says...
1:10pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Roy_Baty
says...
1:40pm Tue 14 Feb 12
supporter1 wrote:It will be on the other side of the estuary and will kill off Southend airport and all related businesses and jobs. How is that good for the area?
All councillers who voted for Southend with its non polluting and silent aircraft
Whay could be the problem with estuary airport?????
Is the boot now on the other foot, the new proposed airport with its great job opportunities and improved infrastructure must be good for the area.
BASILBRUSH
says...
1:50pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Balexan
says...
1:54pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Roy_Baty wrote:Maybe the country is bigger than Southend, perhaps. The argument for Southend airport was jobs and business links, and this is no different. You can't have your cake and eat it, so I would suggest people take off their blinkers and remember that there is life outside of Southend, and even Essex.
supporter1 wrote:It will be on the other side of the estuary and will kill off Southend airport and all related businesses and jobs. How is that good for the area?
All councillers who voted for Southend with its non polluting and silent aircraft
Whay could be the problem with estuary airport?????
Is the boot now on the other foot, the new proposed airport with its great job opportunities and improved infrastructure must be good for the area.
Roy_Baty
says...
2:02pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Balexan wrote:So you are opposed to jobs in Southend then. I'm sure there are thousands who will thank you for that.
Roy_Baty wrote:Maybe the country is bigger than Southend, perhaps. The argument for Southend airport was jobs and business links, and this is no different. You can't have your cake and eat it, so I would suggest people take off their blinkers and remember that there is life outside of Southend, and even Essex.
supporter1 wrote:It will be on the other side of the estuary and will kill off Southend airport and all related businesses and jobs. How is that good for the area?
All councillers who voted for Southend with its non polluting and silent aircraft
Whay could be the problem with estuary airport?????
Is the boot now on the other foot, the new proposed airport with its great job opportunities and improved infrastructure must be good for the area.
Southend needed a bigger local airport, apparently, and the country needs bigger main airports, apparently.
Seeing a view NIMBY comments come up on here, especially from the anti-NIMBYS!
Roy_Baty
says...
2:05pm Tue 14 Feb 12
rhowes
says...
2:06pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Roy_Baty
says...
2:09pm Tue 14 Feb 12
rhowes wrote:Exactly. Expand a midland or northern airport. What else is HS2 supposed to be for?
No man is an island- exept Boris!
Stansted is still stuggling to hit it's capacity targets, and was very quiet last week when I was there. Southend will not take off as hoped by Stobart, and Luton does not need to double its passengers to 18 million a year! If you want to increase capacity, you could look at Manchester or possibly Scotland for the off-shore energy sector. We dread the road congestion around Southend in April, with the initial services probably attracting a surge in traffic on the A and B roads which surround the airfield.
emcee
says...
3:39pm Tue 14 Feb 12
News Bunny wrote:It's the infrastructure that goes with it that takes the space; terminals, ground transport, leisure facilities (hotels etc...), stuff like that.
Roy_Baty wrote:Why so big? Heathrow has two runways and this four so it should surely only be 2x the size of Heathrow not 7x...
News Bunny wrote:That's right. This thing, if built, will be much, much larger than Heathrow.
How big is it supposed to be? In that picture it looks to be about four times bigger than Canvey Island which would make it almost six times bigger than Heathrow!!
emcee
says...
3:47pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Roy_Baty wrote:It will not kill off Southend Airport. The new airport will be in a different class entirely, catering mainly for long haul and larger aircraft. Southend will be still be ideal for the smaller airlines and the easyjets of this world. It would be much more of a threat to London City airport, but only because of it location.
supporter1 wrote:It will be on the other side of the estuary and will kill off Southend airport and all related businesses and jobs. How is that good for the area?
All councillers who voted for Southend with its non polluting and silent aircraft
Whay could be the problem with estuary airport?????
Is the boot now on the other foot, the new proposed airport with its great job opportunities and improved infrastructure must be good for the area.
emcee
says...
3:52pm Tue 14 Feb 12
BASILBRUSH wrote:Whatever happens, more runways are needed and WILL be built. Whether this will be achieved with a new airport or at existing airports, the NIMBYs had better get used to the fact.
6 years to physically build maybe, but based on the time taken to silence a VERY small vocal group for Southend Airport which was an existing Airport and only a 300m extension, with just a station to build, not new High Speed links.
Passify any Wildlife experts and remove the Montgomery.
I cant see it happening in this decade or the next.
It's not going to happen.
I can see a second runway at Gatwick post 2019.
Andycal 172D
says...
5:44pm Tue 14 Feb 12
The Cater Wood Creeper
says...
6:07pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Andycal 172D wrote:that probably ain't far from the truth
It must be SO frustrating for Southend Councillors. All that potential for dodgy deals and backhanders and its NOT IN THEIR AREA! They just have to sit and watch it across the water...
jolllyboy
says...
6:20pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Deborah007
says...
6:51pm Tue 14 Feb 12
jayman
says...
7:29pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Roy_Baty wrote:now that's got to be a good thing!!.
One other thing, if this government approves this plan it will kill tory support in this region stone dead.
ADucksQuack
says...
11:23pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Deborah007 wrote:It would only be similar to the city airport if the city airport was thirty or forty times larger.
Personally, I welcome the expansion of Southend's Airport and the Thames Estuary Airport in Kent (very similar to the City Airport). It will create new prospects for the area in terms of employment & the tourism industry. Let's bring in the new...
westcliff willi
says...
11:56pm Tue 14 Feb 12
emcee
says...
3:04am Wed 15 Feb 12
ADucksQuack wrote:Good grief. Get a grip.
Deborah007 wrote:It would only be similar to the city airport if the city airport was thirty or forty times larger.
Personally, I welcome the expansion of Southend's Airport and the Thames Estuary Airport in Kent (very similar to the City Airport). It will create new prospects for the area in terms of employment & the tourism industry. Let's bring in the new...
Do you want non-stop aircraft noise 24 hours a day overhead?
Do you want the associated pollution?
Do you want the cancers and respiratory diseases that go with it?
Do you want the mass unemployment it will cause in Southend and the surrounding area?
Do you want to see Southend's tourist trade killed off? (who is going to go for a day trip to look at an airport and be deafened by aircraft?)
westcliff willi
says...
7:32am Wed 15 Feb 12
Nebs
says...
7:54am Wed 15 Feb 12
ADucksQuack wrote:If someone wants to spend £50billion on an airport then, whilst I appreciate the problems that concern you about the local area, they will fall on deaf ears at government level. If the government wants a new airport then wherever it is built there will be all the things you mention, so you will be dismissed as a nimby. If you want to oppose it then you need to find specific reasons why it cannot be built in the estuary rather than the effects it will have on whichever town is adjacent to wherever it is eventually built. Might I suggest you take an interest in the birdlife of the area, or the ecology of the estuary, or the Richard Montgomery. Whilst the points you raise are valid for the people of Southend they will mean nothing to the decision makers in Westminster who will face, and are adept at dealing with (ignoring), the same arguments from the residents of wherever it is finally built.
Deborah007 wrote:It would only be similar to the city airport if the city airport was thirty or forty times larger.
Personally, I welcome the expansion of Southend's Airport and the Thames Estuary Airport in Kent (very similar to the City Airport). It will create new prospects for the area in terms of employment & the tourism industry. Let's bring in the new...
Do you want non-stop aircraft noise 24 hours a day overhead?
Do you want the associated pollution?
Do you want the cancers and respiratory diseases that go with it?
Do you want the mass unemployment it will cause in Southend and the surrounding area?
Do you want to see Southend's tourist trade killed off? (who is going to go for a day trip to look at an airport and be deafened by aircraft?)
The Cater Wood Creeper
says...
8:11am Wed 15 Feb 12
Southend airport land is council owned
emcee
says...
3:15pm Wed 15 Feb 12
Nebs wrote:The points raised are hardly valid (see my reponse to the post). The only reasons the airport will not be built will be down to logistics, technical issues and financial restraints. Any other reasons would be, and should be, dismissed as the issues referred to can easily be resolved or dismissed as insignificant.
ADucksQuack wrote:If someone wants to spend £50billion on an airport then, whilst I appreciate the problems that concern you about the local area, they will fall on deaf ears at government level. If the government wants a new airport then wherever it is built there will be all the things you mention, so you will be dismissed as a nimby. If you want to oppose it then you need to find specific reasons why it cannot be built in the estuary rather than the effects it will have on whichever town is adjacent to wherever it is eventually built. Might I suggest you take an interest in the birdlife of the area, or the ecology of the estuary, or the Richard Montgomery. Whilst the points you raise are valid for the people of Southend they will mean nothing to the decision makers in Westminster who will face, and are adept at dealing with (ignoring), the same arguments from the residents of wherever it is finally built.
Deborah007 wrote:It would only be similar to the city airport if the city airport was thirty or forty times larger.
Personally, I welcome the expansion of Southend's Airport and the Thames Estuary Airport in Kent (very similar to the City Airport). It will create new prospects for the area in terms of employment & the tourism industry. Let's bring in the new...
Do you want non-stop aircraft noise 24 hours a day overhead?
Do you want the associated pollution?
Do you want the cancers and respiratory diseases that go with it?
Do you want the mass unemployment it will cause in Southend and the surrounding area?
Do you want to see Southend's tourist trade killed off? (who is going to go for a day trip to look at an airport and be deafened by aircraft?)
Roy_Baty
says...
4:32pm Wed 15 Feb 12
emcee wrote:You'll just put up signs to solve the 'insignificant' problem of millions of migratory birds then..?
Nebs wrote:The points raised are hardly valid (see my reponse to the post). The only reasons the airport will not be built will be down to logistics, technical issues and financial restraints. Any other reasons would be, and should be, dismissed as the issues referred to can easily be resolved or dismissed as insignificant.
ADucksQuack wrote:If someone wants to spend £50billion on an airport then, whilst I appreciate the problems that concern you about the local area, they will fall on deaf ears at government level. If the government wants a new airport then wherever it is built there will be all the things you mention, so you will be dismissed as a nimby. If you want to oppose it then you need to find specific reasons why it cannot be built in the estuary rather than the effects it will have on whichever town is adjacent to wherever it is eventually built. Might I suggest you take an interest in the birdlife of the area, or the ecology of the estuary, or the Richard Montgomery. Whilst the points you raise are valid for the people of Southend they will mean nothing to the decision makers in Westminster who will face, and are adept at dealing with (ignoring), the same arguments from the residents of wherever it is finally built.
Deborah007 wrote:It would only be similar to the city airport if the city airport was thirty or forty times larger.
Personally, I welcome the expansion of Southend's Airport and the Thames Estuary Airport in Kent (very similar to the City Airport). It will create new prospects for the area in terms of employment & the tourism industry. Let's bring in the new...
Do you want non-stop aircraft noise 24 hours a day overhead?
Do you want the associated pollution?
Do you want the cancers and respiratory diseases that go with it?
Do you want the mass unemployment it will cause in Southend and the surrounding area?
Do you want to see Southend's tourist trade killed off? (who is going to go for a day trip to look at an airport and be deafened by aircraft?)
Georgecrozer
says...
9:40am Fri 17 Feb 12
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Nebs says...
11:02am Tue 14 Feb 12
.
As well as opposing the airport there needs to be a Plan B, to concentrate on what is done if it gets the go ahead.