§ Tom BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment he has made of the risk of a bird strike to aircraft at the proposed Cliffe airport; [104717]
(2) what additional research has been commissioned since the publication of the consultation on the future development of air transport in the south-east on the risk of bird strike to aircraft at the proposed Cliffe airport; and if he will publish the results. [104718]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe SERAS study included a preliminary assessment of the risk of birds colliding with aircraft at Cliffe. Details of this work are contained in appendix four of "The North Kent Marshes Ecological Study" (phase 1 report), copies of which are available in the House Libraries.
The Central Science Laboratory and British Trust for Ornithology were jointly commissioned in September 2002 to conduct further research to assess more fully this risk and identify possible mitigating measures. It is intended that the final report of this work will be published shortly.