Map showing all the various airport proposals in and around Thames Estuary

 Having come out against the Mayors Thames Estuary airport proposal today as a joint signatory of a letter to the editor in the Telegraph today, l should add l am actually against both the present proposals today in the Estuary and by implication the historical proposals also made in the Thames Estuary

Interestingly we have had proposals for an airport in the Thames Estuary since the 1940s. The one that had the most substance was put forward by the PLA on Mapling Sands as their ideal site in the early 1970s but died a death when the 1974 Labour government did not back it. (Location number 3 on the map above.)

Previous to that for historic reasons, the Isle of Sheppey has been proposed to be considered as the Third London Airport in the mid 1960’s, only to be rejected in favour of Stansted by an Interdepartment Committee. ( location 4 on the map.) Before that even we had Cliffe in Kent considered as a successor to Croydon as a London airport after WWII, only for it to lose out to Heathrow. (location 1 on the map.)   

Now we are left with two proposals in the Thames Estuary, one of course from the Mayor in the Shivering Sands proposed in 2008 (location no 5 on map) and finally the other from Fosters in the Grain with his Thames Hub idea (location no 2 on the map.)  

And whilst the Mayors & the Foster proposal is hanging around, we have Southend (London) International airport off the A13 in Essex. Though its not on the map above, its  just recently changed hands and is expanding its flight facilities for Easyjet ready for the Olympics. At least this one is on land and is actually happening with private backing while the others lie around as just pipe dreams for their respective backers.