CABE chair Paul Finch has called for four runways at Stansted to cope with London’s need to increase its passenger capacity.
Finch said that by 2050 Essex’s airport could meet London’s air travel needs but only if an extension to Crossrail is granted.
Talking to Estates Gazette, the design council chair said in the near term a second runway is a ‘very real possibility, and much smarter than going out to Shenfield’ he said, pointing to London Mayor Boris Johnson’s plans to build a new airport on an island in Kent. Finch added that Boris had made some encouraging noises regarding expansion at Stansted.
Finch added that the City would be a very different place in 40 years with buildings getting taller. In the medium term there will be more retrofitting of buildings and ‘probably a bit less knocking down and starting again’. The biggest threat to the square mile he says is mental laziness.
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nadia.elghamry@estatesgazette.com
