On the proposed Thames Estuary Airport

 One of the really sad things about me is my love of artificial islands. These totally man made edifices are brilliant. Of course I studied archeology for a couple of years so maybe that's where it started. My engineering bent really kicked in with the creation of the offshore airports in Japan and their artificial testbeds. The science behind building a artificial island to house an airport is amazing. 

And then I discovered that I've been driving past an artificial island every couple of weeks or so. 

So I am a fan of monumental artificial islands. 

However.....

Even I don't support the Mayor of London's wheeze to boost London by building a new airport on the Thames Estuary. 

Not only will it cost god knows how much more than the budget like every other government grand scheme, it is going to be built in a fragile environment which needs protection rather than destruction. 

More than that though, why should a London Mayor be able to ruin the environment and social conditions of an area outside his jurisdiction. The Thames Estury residents didnt vote for Boris so why should he be able to irrevocably damage thier lives?

I support the use of artificial islands as a way of providing runways and to bring economic benefits to the country. So why creat a very expensive runt airport when we could build a much cheaper and much larger one at sea and link it to London by high speed rail or even commuter airplanes?

Being able to build a massive airport with room to expand and no neighbours must be the better option.