Following the opening of the Elizabeth Line, London Green Party has reiterated its call for London City Airport to be closed.
Green London Assembly member Siân Berry said: “Closing City Airport is possible and long overdue and now Crossrail is open, this is not only realistic, it’s necessary. People living around the airport in Newham, have put up with this noise and pollution on their doorstep for long enough. They are the people who first alerted me to this idea, and they need to have this huge area of land under their control at last.”
“With City Hall now next door, fiercer climate targets and a deepening housing crisis, this area could be an amazing new quarter for London, with space for new homes, new green spaces, and new green businesses. The owners have already put their expansion plans, which Sadiq Khan approved, on hold. Now is the time to start talking about more sustainable ways to make a profit on their investment because shutting down London’s smallest airport and using the land for good would have massive, long term benefits for London.”
If this prime piece of the land were used sustainably for innovative businesses, residential areas, leisure, cultural facilities and shops, it would go a long way towards solving many of London’s problems at the same time. Pollution-related death rates around the airport are among the highest in the country, and ‘crash zone’ rules are preventing development in the local area. All for the sake of a tiny number of passengers.
References
London Green Party 2016 London Mayor manifesto: https://www.sianberry.london/news/green/our-plan-to-redevelop-the-london-city-airport-site/