London’s mayor extolls virtues of demolishing one of world’s busiest airports.
He may often look as if he has slept in his suit and that he has styled his hair with a small explosive charge rather than a comb but, through a mix of innovative thinking and strategic buffoonery, Mayor of London Boris Johnson has already established himself as one of the UK’s favourite politicians. And following his suggestion yesterday to close and demolish Heathrow airport, he will have won himself several new advocates from the demolition fraternity.
Virtually since he took office, Johnson has been backing the construction of what the tabloid press has labelled Boris Island in the Thames Estuary to house a new airport hub with fast, direct links to the centre of London. Yesterday, if that weren’t ambitious enough, he suggested that Boris Island would not just supplement but replace Heathrow – one of the world’s busiest airports – with the land being used to create a new town complete with housing for around 250,000 people.
It is easy to dismiss such notions as the ramblings of a man given to controversial and eccentric outbursts. (If you don’t believe me, take a listen to this.) But in an island nation that is fast running out of available space for housing, Johnson’s bold suggestion certainly has merit. Anyone that has ever travelled to or from Heathrow will know that it is a traffic black-spot of near Biblical proportions. Allowing time to circumnavigate the A4 plus a further two hours to make it through airport security, and it is easy to lose a day without so much as a packet of airline peanuts and a boarding card to show for your trouble.
Furthermore, the UK (and the south east in particular) needs new homes. The creation of a new town on the outskirts of west London certainly has merit, as does Johnson’s belief that the creation of a new island airport could create 375,000 new jobs by 2050.
Of course, Johnson’s suggestions will be greeted by derision from certain sectors, particularly the naysayers and environmentalists. But air travel is and will continue to be a desirable and necessary part of modern life and international trade.
The fact that he is given to emotional outbursts – he once described former Prime Minister Tony Blair as “a mixture of Harry Houdini and a greased piglet” – makes it easy to dismiss Boris Johnson as just another eccentric and power-hungry politician from a privileged upbringing harbouring a barely concealed right-wing agenda.
But if it means that my children and grandchildren are spared the torture of the wild Western Avenue on their way to Torremolinos for their annual vacation, then he certainly gets my vote.
