Medway Tories give 'green light' to Boris Island

The Tory London mayor, Boris Johnson, has called for a new airport in North Kent after concuding that Heathrow was 'a planning error.' In his Sunday Times article written in February 2008, he called for a reduction in building new runways at Heathrow and called upon ministers to build elsewhere, specifically just North of Medway. A policy soundly rejected by the Labour Government and local campaigners.

A Natural habitat

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reacted with horror to the proposals.The RSPB said the estuary, including the RSPB’s Cliffe Pools reserve in Kent, is one of Europe’s most important sites for wild birds and is protected by European and UK law.

The RSPB said more than 200,000 birds use the Thames Estuary in winter including species whose numbers have dropped steeply elsewhere.It said their presence would pose a serious risk of bird strike, a threat that would be impossible to avert

Tory plans for Estuary Airport

Cllr Teresa Murray, the Labour candidate for Rochester & Strood, has dismissed the Tory proposal stating that

"It is not often that people take Boris seriously, but his plans to resurrect an airport like that proposed at Cliffe are no joke to residents across Rochester & Strood and particular in Cliffe and the Peninsula, who have campaigned with Bob Marshall-Andrews and other local Labour MPs against the plan. We already have an airport in Kent at Manston, which has a million passenger movements per year. Clearly an existing airport site is a better idea then a tory plot to open an island airport in the middle of an estuary with the busiest shipping lanes and with a potential risk of flooding."

"I have long been warning that as the most senior Tory in the country, Boris Johnson presents a real threat to Medway with his plans for a floating airport. We know what a devastating effect this would have on Medway, both on the borough’s infrastructure, and environmentally, and therefore the Council must ensure this proposal goes no further.”

Medway Tories vote against residents 'No Airport' campaign

The Labour Group, supported by significant numbers of Cliffe residents and campaigners, submitted a full motion to council proposed by Teresa Murray. The motion demanded that local Tories stop sitting on the fence, and start working for residents in pushing David Cameron vocally to rein in Boris Johnson, and put an end to his estuary airport proposals. The motion required a concerted and public visual effort by Conservative Councillors to stop the airport.

The Conservative council rejected this motion and watered down all attempts by local residents in Cliffe, Hoo, Rochester and Strood to push Boris Johnson to drop this rediculous proposal. The Conserative administration snubbed residents across Medway, by citing that Boris had no firm proposals for the Airport. This despite months of press coverage, newspaper articles and comments by the Tory mayor's office that this is a serious proposal being funded and supported by London tax payers.

Medway Tories have given the green light for Boris to squash residents concerns and move forward with this rediculous proposal. Teresa Murray will be working with residents across Medway to continue the fight against the Tory proposals for an airport in North Kent and highlight Tory inaction against this dangerous threat to our local environment.

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