Airport proposal puts Thames habitat at risk

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HR Wallingford has submitted an independent response to a call for evidence from the UK Airports Commission. It called for evidence to inform study outputs for feasibility work on an inner Thames Estuary airport proposal.
HR Wallingford conducted a preliminary assessment of a typical inner Thames Estuary proposal, located in the inner estuary at the Isle of Grain. Using its in-house hydrodynamic models of the Thames Estuary (developed in conjunction with the Port of London Authority and the Environment Agency), it assessed the potential effects of an airport on estuary tidal flow magnitude, directions and water level, and on wave propagation. This provided an initial indication of the scale of possible effects of an inner Thames Estuary airport on navigation, flood defence and estuary habitats.

A preliminary technical assessment concluded that an inner estuary airport would lead to profound changes in the wider estuary environment, probably of a scale not seen on the estuary for a century or more. For example, beyond the direct footprint of a scheme, HR Wallingford provisionally estimated that approximately 2,500 ha of intertidal estuary habitat is indirectly at risk of change from the assessed scheme. With refinements to the airport platform, it should be possible to reduce the scale of changes to the estuary, but it will not be possible to eliminate them altogether.
HR Wallingford’s submission was prepared and submitted on a pro bono and independent basis, to support an evidence-based review of airport options. HR Wallingford's full response to the Call for Evidence can be download from its ePrints repository or from the Airports Commission.
In response to the publication of the Airports Commission’s consultation note on environmental impacts, Dr Mike Dearnaley, director at HR Wallingford said: “We are delighted that the Airports Commission has found our evidence of use for their feasibility study. With our long track record and specialist environmental expertise for the Thames, we hope to continue to contribute to the examination of airport proposals in the estuary.”



New favourite idea: Boris has backed the four-runway 'Foster Island' (pictured) in the Thames Estuary airport, which would be capable of handling up to 180million passengers a year on the Isle of Grain in Kent

AIRPORT EXPANSION: THE OPTIONS

HEATHROW: Heathrow airport chiefs have published three options for a controversial new third runway to double passenger numbers and ‘win the race’ to be Europe’s main international airline hub. But they also spelled out the prospect of fourth runway built after 2040. 
Residents reacted with fury to the blueprint that would mean a sixth terminal T6 at Heathrow, and a seventh likely to follow, threatening action in the High Court to halt it.
Each of the three third-runway Heathrow options will boost annual flights from 480,000 to 740,000 a year  – more in keeping with its international rivals - doubling passenger numbers from 70million to 130million a year.
'FOSTER ISLAND': The inner estuary site on Kent's Isle of Grain is close enough to London to provide smooth and fast access by public transport, yet ideally located so as to allow take-off and landing over water and so impact on as small a population as possible.
'BORIS ISLAND': An airport on an artificial island off the Kent coast would remove all problems of noise pollution and give the airport the freedom to operate in whatever way it needed in order to maximise the UK’s connectivity and economic benefits.
STANSTED EXPANSION: Developing a major four-runway airport at Stansted would have the attraction of building on existing infrastructure and being sited in a relatively sparsely populated region.
GATWICK EXPANSION: Rival Gatwick has unveiled its own controversial plans for a £9billion  second runway at Gatwick that could treble passenger numbers to nearly 90million a year. But it too has flown into turbulence from residents and environmental groups. Gatwick bosses said a new runway in West Sussex, positioned to the south of the current site, could be open in 2025 and could almost treble passenger numbers but be less expensive and less noisy than an extra runway at Heathrow. It would be part of a ‘constellation’ of three main airports around London – instead of one major Heathrow ‘hub’.