John Olsen gives evidence to the Transport Select Committee

EXCLUSIVE by Alan McGuinness

Ten years ago, champagne corks popped as campaigners cheered the demise of Cliffe Airport.

Now the plan for Europe's biggest airport is back - and we have spoken in-depth to the man behind it.

Ambitious John Olsen claims he can cure many of the ills he has diagnosed as afflicting the area – low educational standards, high unemployment and people emigrating.

"do you want malnourished and ill-educated children growing up?” – john olsen

The head of the Independent Aviation Advisory Group is a former executive at the airline Cathay Pacific.

He lived in Hong Kong for 28 years and said he wants to take the "experience" of the airport there and bring it to Kent.

He said Cliffe village would not disappear under his proposal and no one would lose their home.

He would build a range of facilities around the airport for the local community, including swimming pools, running tracks and a velodrome. The airport would be built on 4,500 acres, take just under a decade to build and cost £12bn. It would be powered by geothermal, solar and tide energy.

Up to 35,000 jobs would be created. Transport links would be extended and Gravesend would become a "rail and road hub" for the airport.

Hong Kong, known as Chek Lap Kok, was rated as the third best airport in the world last year. He insisted his group simply wants what is best for the area and the country’s aviation industry.

Campaigners Joan Darwell, Gill Moore and George Crozer

Mr Olsen said: "I’m a huge supporter of the environment. I don’t want people to think we’re just here to trample on them."

Critics argue the public would end up footing a large proportion of the bill for the project. A report published last month said a Thames Estuary airport would not be commercially viable, and estimated a public subsidy of £10 to £30bn would be needed to get it off the ground.

Supporters – Mr Olsen included – claim private investors will be more than happy to stump up the cash. Mr Olsen told a House of Commons Transport Select Committee he had already had discussions with one investor about the Cliffe proposal.

He said: "It’s amazing what can be done to enhance a community at practically no cost to that community. The great thing about an airport is that people of all denominations and social status work together to get the job done.

"Do you want malnourished and ill-educated children growing up? Here is a project that will really help these people.

"The politicians have been watching 40 years of collapse in Medway. Are they going to wake up and see something needs to be done?"

The full interview with Mr Olsen is part of a 16-page special report in tomorrow's Medway Messenger.

Our comprehensive guide includes what the public are itching to know about jobs, house prices, the politics and how the system works.

There are also interviews with die-hard campaigners who have fought the plans since day one (pictured above).

Only in the Medway Messenger - out tomorrow.