Heathrow - Additional Runway

The Govt have announced today that the location selected for a new Runway will be Heathrow instead of Gatwick.

Now I can see the arguement for both locations but I remain unconvinced that either of those two locations was the correct answer.  I fully accept that the demand has outstripped our capacity and that as a result our commerce is suffering at the very time that we need to up our game.

But did anyone consider Lynham just off the M4 and a little SW of Swindon?  The ex RAF station became famous as the home of the RAF's Hercules fleet, but as the Govt foolishly cut back on our Armed Services Lynham was closed as an RAF station, and the assets were moved to Brize Norton.   I believe that the Ex Lynham base is now an Army camp,  the runway being virtually unused.

So why not develop that old base?  Yes the runway will probably require refurbishment, but the basis of a viable new Airport is there and could have been built at a fraction of the cost of developing either Heathrow or Gatwick.   It is ideally located to serve the whole of Southern England and with access  to both road and rail links.

TF