London's New Runway - Zac Goldsmith loses seat to Liberals
 

So after much delay and prevarication to avoid upset at the last election for so many Tory supporting areas, the airports commission has come out in favour of a third runway to be built on the north side of Heathrow:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33340565

Inevitably many local campaigners, MPs, current London Mayor Boris Johnson, and others are all saying it's wrong. But many others, especially the business lobby support Heathrow expansion.

In my view you wouldn't build a new airport at Heathrow today, but the world was a different place when it started as a few tents in the 1950s. London Suburbs have expanded, and as Heathrow grew, so did the housing and other infrastructure that both supports and relies on it.

Heathrow is arguably better connected by road, and rail than the perceived alternative of Gatwick. But Gatwick expansion would be cheaper, and probably cause less disturbance to many. Expansion of either airports still warrants improved local transport.

Gatwick is the worlds busiest single runway airport. It and Heathrow are very close to capacity. In reality both airports are in need of expansion for different reasons. Indeed I think both airports should have an added runway, Heathrow so the much lauded hub status can be maintained, but Gatwick so that some of the Heathrow disturbance and capacity can be alleviated and spread around.

Re: London's New Runway
 

They should just bite the bullet and do both, you all know in another few years they'll be doing it again.

Re: London's New Runway
 

Something needs to be done but this report is probably just the end of the beginning, nothing more. It'll be many years before a single sod is turned. On balance ,Heathrow does seem to offer the most benefits overall but extending Gatwick and Stansted would also have benefits and help distribute the load. Something clearly needs to be done but as we've seen with our power generating infrastructure, these things tend to take decades to sort out in the UK. God only knows what sort of impact any of these options will have on the M25 which itself seems to be running near, at or over capacity much of the time.

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All in all l am for it as it is badly needed.

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The Government is already playing down the recommendation and stalling on the decision. I think they're going to go with Gatwick.

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Why can't they just bloody well get on with it.

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Cameron catagorically ruled out Heathrow as an 2009 election promise. Doubt he'd want another U Turn on his record.

Linky

On the other hand he's quite duplicitous, must be that time being in hock to the Lib-Dems.

Personally I like Boris Island: Hong Kong built a whole new airport 18 miles out of the city with all the high speed infrastructure links. Just think hydrofoil links on the Thames to the city could whisk businessmen to the square mile faster than most other ways.

Shows what you CAN do if you really want to.

Wiki

Re: London's New Runway
 

According to Mary Creagh on the Daily Politics just now, any such development in the Thames estuary would have serious implications for flooding in London.

The problem we have is lack of space coupled with the sort of planning law which gives the opponents of any major schemes great power to delay them. I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing but in places like China, Turkey, Dubai etc. they just ship people out (if that's required) and send in the bulldozers.

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Presumably claimed with no factual backup. Thames barrier works whether there is a new island in the estuary or not.

Hence the attraction of a green field, well brown water, site. Oodles of extra space for more runways without tearing people from their homes. The Dutch are experts in building islands in estruries to reclaim land and have the kit on hand.

Re: London's New Runway
 

I don't know, she didn't explain but it was an immediate response when the subject of Boris Island came up. Given the timescales involved, maybe she's referring to the TB no longer being up to the job if an airport was built in the estuary.

Update:


Just reading up a little I found this which mentions the project and the inclusion of a new flood barrier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Estuary_Airport

My preference would be for a whole new airport but it's not going to happen.

Re: London's New Runway
 

Probably more like she's got her heart set on Heathrow and is just finding fatuous excuses. If there's a new island there must be less water as it's partially blocked the estuary. That would help the barrier surely?

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Apparently it was designed to 'float' above the water not displace it so I'm confused too.

The TB is going to have to be replaced at some point so at least Boris's scheme would include this.

Anyway, why have a nice bright shiny new airport with plenty of capacity when we can bolt another bit onto Heathrow and find ourselves short of capacity again a couple of decades later?

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Don't think that's a goer. Like I say the Dutch have been making new land for centuries and have got it cracked, look at the extensions to the port of Rotterdam.

Yep kill two birds with one stone, proper forward looking.

It'll look like the cheapest option but will end up being short of capacity, late and over budget mainly because of vociferous objection groups endless legal challenges.

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The Thames Estuary provides a sort of reservoir into which all that tidal water being pushed around the English Channel and North Sea can be held without it all having to squeeze into the ever more restricted funnel of the Thames itself. Take away a large area of the estuary by building on or in it and that reduces the reservoir capacity potentially meaning the bottlenecked water will be more of a problem with a possible increase volume being pushed up towards London.

The real issue though is whether we, as a country, want to accept that we need communication and transport infrastructure to suit a modern economy. Air transport is here to stay whatever the environmentalists may say. Just as road transport has become more efficient, so has air transport. But it will never, in our lifetime, be green.

Our planning laws for major projects have become so convoluted and restrictive that doing anything takes forever. Inevitably these add a burdens significant costs through all the enquiries and other paraphanalia. We only have to look at HS2 which was talked about before the last parliament and still isn't close to construction starting.

So despite the need for more airport capacity, by the time that we manage to agree any new runway location, we'll already need a further runway. As a country we risk becoming so isolated that most of us will be doing short hops to Amsterdam, Paris or wherever has grown, before we can do the long haul stuff.

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An interesting observation:

Source and additional info

IIRC some time ago experimental jet airliners based on current engine designs were being run on Hydrogen and fuel celled cars are just around the corner. If we can produce the Hydrogen using green energy we can still fly.

A major issue in such a crowded island.

Too true.