A FOUR-RUNWAY airport in Sheppey would cause even more uproar among environmentalists than the Cliffe proposal which is why it is being branded a non-starter.

The south-east corner of the complex would be next to English Nature's national nature reserve at Shellness.

The Elmley RSPB reserve, which attracts thousands of geese, cormorants, and swans and is now a major breeding area for the rare avocet, would be directly in line with westerly landings and take-offs.

The proposals suggest a 300km per hour rail link to London and the continent. London could be reached in 28 minutes, says the company. It would run from the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, near Boughton Malherbe, to the airport.

It would cross the Swale between Luddenham Gap and Mockbeggar Farm. The rail link would cross Oare Marshes and Harty on Sheppey, both bird watching havens. A new road would be built next to Elmley Bird Reserve to the airport.

It would start from the widened A249, and loosely follow the line of the former Eastchurch light railway. Capel Fleet would be destroyed, but a spokesman for Sheppey Airport said it could be recreated elsewhere.

Public transport The airport planners describe it as a ditch used by non-wading birds, but the RSPB say it is of significant importance. The airport would be built at Eastchurch on the site of the world's first airport.

It was from here that Moore-Brabazon made the first circular one-mile flight in England on October 30, 1909. Muswell Manor, the first home of the British Aeronautical Club, is the only listed building threatened by the plans but could be conserved, said the promoters.

They claimed the maximum number of people affected by noise of "significant community annoyance" would be 6,000, but in return the airport would create jobs.

"The forecast housing growth in the Thames Gateway region suggests that the unemployment needs of an airport constructed in either of these two locations (Cliffe or Sheppey) could be met with relatively limited additional housing development."

The paper to the Government added: "The Sheppey option is unique among the candidate sites because it proposes to strictly implement the Government avowal to promote public transport above the private car."