"Pig will fly" before Cliffe airport is built
00:00, 04 March 2003
updated: 10:44, 04 March 2003
A GIANT pink pig will fly over Trafalgar Square as the people of Medway let the Government know what they think of their plans to build an airport at Cliffe.
Medway Council has snorted its derision at the £13 billion plan and coughed up £2,000 to buy the inflatable pig.
The floating porker will join thousands of protestors on a march through London on Saturday, April 5.
This follows the raising of seven giant banners in the Medway Towns, with the slogan "Medway Council says No Airport at Cliffe".
The double-sided banners-which cost £170 each-were placed in Chatham, Rochester, Gillingham and Strood High Streets at the weekend.
Before selecting the 18ft-long inflatable pig for the march council officers considered a blow up-pie and a white elephant as a standard.
A council spokesman said: "We think the plan for an airport in Cliffe is pie in the sky and would turn out to be a white elephant, like the Millennium Dome.
"But we chose the pig because pigs will fly before the airport is built in Cliffe.
"The Government report suggests it would cost over £13 billion, but it would probably be more like £16 billion.
"That's three times as expensive as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the Government had to bail that out."
Latest news
‘I spend three hours at A&E every other day because my GP can’t see me’
Rolexes and crypto: How dealer selling drugs from bedroom hid ‘massive profits’
Park pledges to reopen iconic cinema building as another blockbuster film lined up
High street’s oldest shop to finally reopen 18 months after roof collapsed
Features
Most popular
- 1
Pedestrian killed in M2 crash involving ‘number of vehicles’
3 - 2
‘This Christmas market is truly magical - but there’s just one problem’
17 - 3
Inside Kent’s newest B&M store in former Wilko
5 - 4
Lorry bursts into flames on roundabout approach
3 - 5
Delays after tank strapped to lorry hits railway bridge
6