PROPOSALS for a new £9bn airport in the Thames Estuary at Cliffe, near Rochester, have been abandoned, it was revealed this afternoon.

Champagne corks were popping as soon as the news was broadcast at the RSPB reserve at Northward Hill in High Halstow.

Campaign groups and RSPB members gathered with villagers to share the jubilation and relief that came with the confirmation that the marshes of North Kent were to be left alone in the Government's aviation plans.

The Government has announced that Stansted and Heathrow are to get new runways under a 30-year plan for air travel in the United Kingdom.

The Stansted runway would be ready by 2011 with Heathrow to get a third runway by 2020 if it meets a range of environmental and noise rules.

Among other proposals announced by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling are a new runway in Birmingham and a possible one in Edinburgh too.

Bob Marshall-Andrews, Labour MP for Medway, said: “I am delighted to report that the Government has now decided finally and without qualification to reject the concept of an airport at Cliffe. I have always asked for the earliest notification from ministers and this has been achieved.

“This represents a huge and significant victory for community and environmental organisations and for thousands of local people who have campaigned long and hard for this result.

“I feel extremely proud to have worked alongside so many of my constituents and to have ensured that the Government never underestimated our collective strength and determination. I am especially pleased that this campaign has been free from party politics.

"We have all pulled together regardless of our political differences and proved what can be done in these circumstances when everyone is under threat.

“We may even have achieved something that goes beyond victory. It was inevitable that any consultation should include a coastal site (as formerly with Maplin Sands) but the campaign has given us the opportunity to demonstrate the unique values of both our communities and our environment.

“This will undoubtedly ensure far greater protection from future development and the creation of a National Park.”

The huge campaign to stop an international airport being built at Cliffe had gathered strength over recent months with several major reports concluding that it would be wrong to choose the area as an option.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), British Airways, British Airports Authority, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England and Medway Council are among the organisations which had published evidence that was critical of Cliffe as a potential airport site.

Even the Government’s own Department of Transport’s report questioned whether Cliffe would be a good idea due to the high risk of bird strikes.

Mr Marshall-Andrews added: “I spoke with the Prime Minister and Ministers responsible armed with the information from these reports and passionate pleas from the people directly affected by the proposal.

"I stressed that it is essential that the Government notified us of its decision as soon as possible saying that it is totally unacceptable that these communities had been living under a dark shadow for so long.

“I continue to speak to and correspond with the many local people who had been deeply worried by the proposal.

"To date I have answered more than 4,500 letters on the matter, attended meetings and rallies and finally in October co-hosting the RSPB Westminster lobby.”

Kent County Council leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said: “Without doubt the Cliffe airport proposal presented us with the greatest ever challenge to the county’s environment. The impact of a new airport and its surrounding infrastructure in such a sensitive area would have been enormous.

"I would like to thank all those people involved in helping us with the campaign. I am particularly grateful to the residents, community, voluntary and environmental groups who wrote to the Government supporting us during the consultation period.

“Once again we have demonstrated the pivotal role of the local authorities in championing the interests of the people of Kent.”

KCC Cabinet Member for Regeneration Alex King said: “The county council opposed this with all the power we could muster. We threw our considerable weight, legal expertise and the experience we had gained with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link behind the local campaign.

"I am delighted that our efforts have paid off and that common sense has prevailed for the sake of Cliffe residents and the wider Kent community.”

Rodney Chambers, leader of Medway Council, said: "Common sense has prevailed. The environmental damage to this triple SSI area and bird feeding ground would have been catastrophic.

"I am overjoyed that there will be no more talk of an airport at Cliffe and that the blight on this area has been lifted.

"We made our case clear from the beginning that as a council we were unanimously opposed to a five runway airport hub, and were able to demonstrate beyond doubt that it was a non-starter."

Gravesham MP Chris Pond said: "The decision to drop Cliffe airport from airport expansion plans is the best Christmas present Alistair Darling could have sent the people of North Kent. Local communities have stood shoulder to shoulder to oppose an idea which could have destroyed their environment and their future prosperity.

"We fought an effective campaign and won. As a result we have ensured that Cliffe remains strictly for the birds - and that they will be the only things flying over this historic countryside".

He added: "It was clear when I met the Prime Minister and Transport Secretary a couple of weeks ago to drive home our opposition to the plan that they understood the case against Cliffe. Then it was too early to celebrate. Now it's not. Merry Christmas."

George Crozer, a leading campaigner against the airport plan, gave his reaction to the news to KM-fm...