Assembly cancel Thames estuary airport hearing

An upcoming session of the London Assembly Environment Committee which was to hear from Doug Oakervee on the Mayor’s proposal to build a new airport in the Thames has had to be altered after Mr Oakervee’s employers advised the Assembly he will be overseas for business reasons and unavailable to the committee “for some months to come”.

Mr Oakervee, who is a respected Civil Engineer and formerly Executive Chair of Crossrail, has led a study into Mayor Boris Johnson’s airport proposal. Mr Johnson has made clear his opposition to any further development at Heathrow and has called on Ministers to consider his idea of an airport on the Thames.

The proposal has met with opposition from a number of groups including the RSPB, Conservative controlled Medway Council and airlines who currently use Heathrow.

Mr Oakervee is currently representing his employers in Hong Kong where his expertise will help inform his employer’s bids for a number of rail projects including the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and other major projects in the Region.

Assembly Members will instead use their meeting on 11 March to examine the Mayor’s Climate Change mitigation and energy strategy.