Machiavelli's dictum about the introduction of new things, "There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage...for the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old system and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new one."
And so it is with airports in London and the South East. However as the Mayor of London makes clear in his consultation response to the Government (‘Developing a sustainable framework for UK aviation’) something will have to be done and a Thames Estuary airport may be the least worst long term option.
Our economic and strategic development thinking that fed into this work highlighted that a Thames Estuary airport would:
- Support the £532 billion Greater South East economy which is the powerhouse of the UK - though its relative competitiveness is declining.
- Provide the economic catalyst that the Thames Gateway has been missing - and a key part of a long term UK Growth Plan focussed on international trading.
- Give a clearly defined focus and location for economic growth - the UK is now the only NW European country without any national and regional planning.
- Offer a long term rather than a 'muddle-through' response to Heathrow’s inherent capacity constraints - which will require the elusive element of long term cross party political comitment.
Yes it would be expensive but big visionary projects are and the UK's competitors seem to (a) make the business and political case and (b) find the money. Yes it would have engineering challenges but again no bigger than elsewhere in the world. But in the long run airports can have huge regional and national economic spin-offs. Washington Dulles airport and its technology corridor is now home to more telecom and satellite companies than any other place on earth. Stockholm Arlanda Airport has 65,000 associated science city jobs. We have to remember that we are where we are because Heathrow's original growth was unplanned and resulted from a series of incremental decisions.
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