Foster's Thames airport scheme 'daft', says local council

Foster + Partners' plans to investigate the construction of an international airport in the Thames Estuary have been labelled "daft" by Rodney Chambers, the leader of the local Medway Council (Travel Weekly, 01-Aug-2011). Mr Chambers said "a huge new airport on or near the Thames Estuary, which would cost up to GBP70 billion, is both unaffordable and unnecessary, and the government and many airline industry giants have already said they do not support such a plan." He urged the government to use existing airport sites as grounds for expansion.

Medway Council: "Lord Foster's plan to build an airport on the Isle of Grain is, quite possibly, the daftest in a long list of pie-in-the-sky schemes that have been put forward. The Isle of Grain is home to the largest liquefied natural gas terminal in Europe and around a fifth of the UK's gas supply is offloaded by container ships and stored there. It is plainly obvious that aircraft and huge gas containers are a potentially lethal mix. I can only assume that neither Lord Foster nor Boris Johnson, who is said to be thrilled by this plan, have actually left their offices and travelled from London to the Isle of Grain to have a look." Rodney Chambers, council leader. Source: Travel Weekly, 02-Aug-2011.