Picture: Daniel Moylan, deputy chairman of Transport for London (left) with Rochester & Strood MP, Mark Reckless (centre) and Medway councillor, Jane Chitty

by business editor Trevor Sturgess

There should be a referendum on Boris Island airport.

That was the plea from some delegates during a heated debate on the controversial proposal by Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

Speaking at an event in Gillingham hosted by the Federation of Small Businesses, his deputy at Transport for London, Daniel Moylan, promoted the case in favour of north Kent being the site of the new airport.

The case against was led by Medway council and one of the local MPs, Mark Reckless, the member for Rochester and Strood. Their claim was that Boris Johnson had been inconsistent on whether he was truly behind the idea and was using the project to win votes in west London. Also, the vast majority of local people in Medway - and those in the rest of the country - didn't want one.

Daniel Moylan said there was an overwhelming business case for a replacement hub airport for Heathrow. He explained that Heathrow was full to capacity and that passengers changing planes at a hub airport generated huge revenues so that, if the UK lost its place as one of the world's top transport hubs, others in Europe would take over. "The Dutch, French, Germans and Spanish are laughing all the way to the bank as they take away our airport business," he said.

Those in favour of the project said it would create jobs, but Rodney Chambers, Medway council leader, said "We could not provide the people for (the new airport's) jobs so thousands more people would move from west London to our area."

Mayor Johnson wants to replace Heathrow as the UK's main hub airport serving cities all over the world. But this prompted a call for a referendum among local people in Medway. The move was supported by former Medway Mayor, Dai Liyanage, who said that, so far, no one in the whole area had been asked for their opinion.

Roger House, the FSB regional chairman, worried that the region's roads were already overcrowded and would burst when the new airport generated large amounts of traffic.

Meanwhile, Manston Airport has asked Thanet council to allow more night flights.