Mayor admits defeat on Boris Island
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The major of London, Boris Johnson, has backed down from plans to build an airport on an artificial island in the Thames estuary, conceding that the terminal would be too far away from central London.
However, Johnson is still adamant that the solution to London’s airport problem does not lie in Heathrow expansion. He is now backing a new site on the Isle of Grain in North Kent.
The new proposal, which was designed by architect Lord Foster, is for a four-runway airport that would eventually go on to handle 180 million passengers a year. It would come with high speed rail links to Waterloo and cost around GBP65 billion.
However, the new airport would act as a replacement to Heathrow, raising the question of what would happen to the 76,600 airport employees and 11,100 indirect jobs which depend upon the hub.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Johnson was forced to argue his case, which would create the biggest spate of job losses since the pit closures in the 1980s.
“It would cement London’s position as the number one economic commercial powerhouse of Europe, if not the world,” he said.
The area where Heathrow currently sits would be redeveloped into a new town with 200,000 homes.
To see the mayor’s proposal’s click here
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