Sunday East Kent Edition - 15/11/2009 digital edition

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� 2002 KENT ON SUNDAY. KENT ON SUNDAY is published by
KOS Media (Publishing) Limited.
LONDON Mayor Boris Johnson
appears determined to push on
with his demands for a Thames
Estuary airport, despite dis-
missing the scheme only last
month.
His plans were revealed in a leaked doc-
ument shown to the BBC in which he said
construction of the �40 billion floating air-
port was the "bravest" project the Greater
London Authority (GLA) could do.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said he
could not comment on the document, but
confirmed the Mayor believed an estuary
airport would be valuable for London.
Just last month, eccentric Mr Johnson
told the GLA transport committee he had
no aspirations to construct `Boris Island' off
the coast of north Kent.
A spokesman said: "There is a huge
amount of work to be done before an estu-
ary airport could even begin to go through
the planning process. Mr Johnson asked
for an initial feasibility study and has fol-
lowed the report's recommendation to set
up a Thames Estuary Steering Group.
"He believes the complex and critical
decisions on Britain's aviation future
require mature exploration of every possi-
ble option and the steering group's
research will be invaluable when deciding
if a new airport in the estuary could meet
our future needs."
It is believed oil-rich Gulf states have
expressed interest in bankrolling the
scheme. Interest in the controversial proj-
ect has also been expressed by the Chinese.
But Kent County Council leader Cllr
Paul Carter dismissed the latest comments
from Mr Johnson as "nonsense".
He said: "It's just inconsistent messages
coming from the Greater London
Authority. There is no chance of it ever
being built, so all we can do is make sure
the unsuitable idea remains sunk."
Medway Council, KCC and the RSPB
have teamed up to fight against the
airport scheme on the grounds it would
have a massive impact on the area and
environment.
By MARIJKE COX
marijke.cox@kosmedia.co.uk
BLOND AMBITION: London Mayor Boris
Johnson favours an estuary airport
Leak shows
Boris keen
on `bravest'
airport plan
damaging the roads without a licence.
He added: "The review of the frontline serv-
ices is not for us to see what we can get rid of,
but rather what we can use more efficiently."
KCC has an annual budget of �1.5 billion, but
economists are predicting a 40 per cent cut in
central government support over the next three
years.
County Hall finance director Lynda
McMullan said local authorities could even be
struggling for the next decade.
She added:"We have all more or less come to
similar conclusions, although some will be hit
harder than others. Essex County Council, for
instance, is facing a shortfall of about �300m.
"We're going to have to look at services differ-
ently. As [KCC leader] Paul Carter is fond of
saying, we might have used gold-plated things
in the past when galvanised steel might have
been good enough."
Earlier this year about 2,000 KCC workers
voted for industrial action in protest at being
offered only a one per cent pay increase, but
Cllr Simmonds said he expected staff to be
more understanding this time around.
He said: "I think there's a recognition about
the seriousness of the situation and a feeling
that people would rather keep their jobs than
have us pay big salaries.
"We still have to negotiate with staff, but
there won't be any five, 10 or 15 per cent
increases, I can assure you of that.
"Whatever we do we have to be very pru-
dent, but that won't come as any surprise to
our staff."
CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE
�200m budget
shortfall puts
hundreds of
jobs at risk
FINANCE chiefs have rubbished
claims Kent County Council may not
receive as much cash back from Icelandic
banks as previously expected, writes Steve
Knight.
Earlier this week the Telegraph reported
that Glitnir � in which the authority had
invested �14.5m of taxpayers' money �
had discovered a �670m hole in its
accounts and might not be able to pay as
much back to its creditors as first thought.
However, KCC finance director Lynda
McMullan says the bank still has enough
cash to pay back all those institutes that
have preferred creditor status, including
the council.
Ms McMullan added that she still
expects KCC to recoup more than 92 per
cent of the �50m total that was frozen in
the Icelandic banking system, and that the
situation is completely unrelated to the
predicted �200m funding shortfall the
council is currently preparing for.
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