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Thames Estuary airport: Howard Davies Commission to visit Medway

00:00, 10 June 2013

updated: 10:39, 10 June 2013

The team looking into the idea of an airport in Medway will visit the Towns on Thursday.

The Davies Commission, set up by the government to solve the thorny issue of the UK’s aviation capacity, will meet with the council and visits proposed sites in a private tour.

These include Cliffe and Grain.

Economist Sir Howard Davies conducted the aviation review
Economist Sir Howard Davies conducted the aviation review

The commission, which is led by the economist Sir Howard Davies, will issue an interim report at the end of this year narrowing down the options.

A final report recommending what course of action the government should take will be published after the next election in 2015.

A commission spokesman said: “Members of the Commission are looking forward to their tour of the Hoo Peninsula in Kent.

“The visit will build the Commission’s understanding of the region to inform their considerations of any proposals for an airport in the Thames Estuary.

“As part of its final report in summer 2015, the Commission will provide materials to support the Government in preparing a national policy statement to accelerate the resolution of any future planning applications for major airports infrastructure.”

The idea of a Thames Estuary airport first began to resurface when Boris Johnson was elected Mayor of London five years ago.

Since then Mr Johnson has been relentlessly pushing the idea, and numerous architectural firms have picked up the gauntlet laid down by him and come forward with plans.

This includes architect Lord Foster, who has proposed building a four-runway airport at Grain, the world's biggest.

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