THURROCK Council Leader John Kent has welcomed the Airport Commission’s ”common sense” decision to rule out a new hub airport in the Thames Estuary.
Speaking on Tuesday when the commission made its decision public, Cllr Kent said: “Sometimes it seems a rare thing for common sense to prevail, but to be honest I don’t think the commission could have done much else.
“It was nick-named Boris Island for a reason. There was only one person who thought it was a good idea – Boris himself, and sometimes I wonder about even that.
“Locally, here in Thurrock, a four-runway airport a few miles downriver would have been horrific. Noise, pollution and road congestion like we’ve never imagined would have been the day-to-day reality.
“The ecological effect – on both river banks – would have ruined some of the country’s best riverside habitats.
“And nobody really thought it was a good idea financially either.
“Now all that’s been proved true.”
He said: “Thurrock Council made a submission to the commission, I doubt that alone we had a major effect, but I am equally sure our opinions were in a massive majority and together we had an impact.
“Sometimes talking common sense actually gets a common sense result.”
