Architect throws cold water over reports that it would cost 拢2bn to replace habitats in the Thames Estuary
Foster + Partners has thrown cold water over reports that it would cost 拢2bn to replace habitats in the Thames Estuary if a new hub airport was built there.
The architect insisted the real figure would be much smaller and said its proposal for a four-runway airport was still a realistic option.
The 232-page by engineer Jacobs for the government鈥檚 airports commission, was published this week. It looks in detail at the environmental impacts of building an airport on the Hoo Peninsula between the Thames and Medway estuaries.
It said: 鈥淎n airport development on the Hoo peninsula is likely to result in large-scale adverse effects on international nature conservation designations鈥� If an airport development was to pass the alternative solutions test 鈥� a large area of compensation habitat creation would be required and this would be on a scale unprecedented for any single development in Europe.鈥�
Opponents such as Labour鈥檚 transport spokeswoman on the London Assembly, Val Shawcross, said this was the 鈥渇inal nail in the coffin鈥� and urged mayor Boris Johnson to ditch his 鈥渧anity project鈥�.
The Financial Times described it as a 鈥渇urther setback for Boris Island鈥�.
But Huw Thomas, the Foster鈥檚 partner leading on the project, said people with vested interests had taken the figures 鈥渃ompletely out of context鈥�.
The report says habitat replacement would cost 拢70,000 to 拢100,000 per hectare. Depending on the amount of land required for an airport, this would put the bill anywhere between 拢149m and -拢2.04bn, it says.
Thomas said most reports had simply quoted the 拢2bn figure.
His own estimate is around the 拢500m mark.
鈥淧eople like to make things sound very difficult and of the most extraordinary scale so they talk up the problem rather than talking about the opportunity and how we could solve it,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hey say it will take an awful lot of study but that鈥檚 happening anyway, regardless of airports. The Environment Agency is down there studying those habitats working out how to move them and the cost of moving them because of the threat posed by climate change.
鈥淵es, this is on a scale we haven鈥檛 done before but it鈥檚 not on a scale we鈥檙e not going to have to do. We鈥檙e going to have to tackle it so let鈥檚 not build it up to be impossible.鈥�
Foster鈥檚 proposal is for the eastern-most part of the peninsula, known as the Isle of Grain. Other teams have proposed rival plans on neighbouring sites.
Thomas dismissed most of these as 鈥渉air-brained鈥�. 鈥淚t was extraordinary,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e spent a couple of years on it before it became a hot topic and did an enormous amount of work with many consultants.鈥�
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