For forty years we have been fighting proposals to concrete over vast swathes of the Thames estuary to construct a monster airport. Lord Foster’s latest sophisticated doodle pinpoints the Isle of Grain in north Kent (my home county, not that that is terribly relevant) as the location of a four runway airport with arms of infrastructure waving their way through the landscape.
It will solve all our problems, we are told.
If it wasn’t so fanciful, so layered with impossibility, it would feel like a declaration of war on the environment of the South East. The consequence of living with the Groundhog Day sequence of mad-cap airport proposals dating back to Mapplin Sands (off the Essex coast) in the late 1960s is that conservationists and local communities have developed a keen nose for the consultants trough – the glossy and lavishly illustrated concept that exists only to waste scarce time and resources countering the benefits with a sober assessment of the costs.
Costs not paid in terms of cash alone but in terms of lives blighted (north Kent has local communities too – and very effective ones like the Friends of North Kent Marshes formed in response to a proposal to airportify Cliffe nearly a decade ago) and wreckage of the natural environment.
These arguments have played out over the years – but now we know more than we did about the risks of ramping up the emissions of green house gasses, more about the damaging climate change to which growing airports will only add.
Governments over the last decade have been really clear that the Thames is not the place for an airport and we welcome the clarity that there should be no more airport expansion in the South East.
So just to be clear – the RSPB fundamentally opposes the construction of an airport in the Thames estuary.
And to be equally clear – we are committing ourselves to the future of this great estuary. We believe the future of the Thames is exciting benefiting it’s people and it’s world class natural environment.
The MP for the area – Mark Reckless – is clear in his (very welcome) opposition to the devastation of his constituency.
The wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery off Sheerness in the Thames - filled with explosive and another hazard to the unwary airport developer
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How right you are Andre, yet another fanciful idea to join the long list of others.
Communities in north Kent have been here many times before and every time it has been rejected. A Thames estuary airport does not make sense economically,would be too environmentally and ecologically damaging, too dangerous because of bird-strike, the aviation industry doesn't want it and neither does the government. It would potentially be the single biggest piece of environmental vandalism ever perpetrated in the UK. Lord Foster's "sophisticated doodle" is no different, the threats and risks remain the same.
Communities here remain ever vigilant and find it sad that developers, the Mayor of London, his team and others are so ill-informed about the Thames estuary and its internationally protected wildlife habitats. We continue to work with RSPB and others to promote and protect our natural and cultural heritage. We look forward to the future; we see that the way forward is to share this magical wilderness, its sights and sounds with others who will come to learn about the wildlife, wander the footpaths, and enjoy the tranquillity and atmosphere. We will not be deterred from this goal by the fanciful imaginings of Lord Foster.
Friends of the North Kent Marshes
Conservation and Communities United