Letter: 5 November 2010

Airport threat to the countryside

WE ARE told “a brand new, state-of-the-art, three-runway airport would promote growth, attract investment and create employment”.

I can already picture residents on the Hoo Peninsula queueing for miles to benefit from the “local” jobs promised as they watch their idyllic surroundings ravaged.

The problem is that Boris’ plans to pave over the beautiful north Kent countryside – a prominent habitat for migrating birds, which sees ornithologists flocking to catch a glimpse of a rare species – do not merely involve the terminal and runways.

Associated infrastructure will kill any remaining natural beauty – a promise to connect via the high-speed rail network and vastly increased traffic to accommodate tourists, business travellers and thousands of airport staff on existing roads (not to mention the miles of extra roadways that would be necessary) would ensure that any remaining green spaces were dutifully paved over and any wildlife (not to mention us human beings) remaining would be sent running for fear of their lives. I am a massive fan of Mayor BoJo. His brilliant intelligence allowed him to create his persona of a clumsy baboon. His faux pas, though offending huge populations at a time, were largely innocent and harmless. Not so since his deluded visions for Boris Island – and now, we learn, for a resurrection of plans fought fiercely and successfully against, emanating from his political foes.

Alan W Collins, by email