Here is a kind of calendar of how the Cliffe Airport story unfolded, starting when it first became known to the residents living in the target zone. It is still in its early stages, and gaps will be filled in when details are to hand:
| DATE | WHERE | WHAT HAPPENED |
|---|
| March 2002 |
| 1st March 2002 | Press / Radio | SERAS study details leaked, and covered in the Financial Times and on BBC Radio Kent |
| Go to top of page |
| July 2002 |
| 23rd July 2002 | Central Government | Announcement made by Government about the SERAS report, and brought to Medway Council's Cabinet at their meeting that day |
| Go to top of page |
| August 2002 |
| 2nd August 2002 | Meeting at Cliffe Memorial Hall | Dickens Country Protection Society launches its anti-airport campaign |
| unknown | Cliffe area | Formation of the No Airport @ Cliffe Action Group |
| Mid-August 2002 | BBC Radio 4 Today interview | Vice-chairman of the European Parliament's environment committee said it was unlikely that the British Government could make a convincing case for the Cliffe proposal |
| Go to top of page |
| September 2002 |
| September ;2002 | Medway households | Medway Council's Medway Matters newspaper's first feature (on centre pages) on the airport issue |
| 9th September 2002 | Medway Council | Medway Council voted to apply for Judicial Review re. exclusing Gatwick from the SERAS options |
| 28th September 2002 | Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham & Rainham | March from the Great Lines to Whiffens Avenue car park, Chatham. Also five High Street stalls for information, car stickers & a petition that collected over 3,000 signatures |
| Go to top of page |
| October 2002 |
| 29th October 2002 | Medway Council, Civic Centre | Medway Council's Cabinet agreed that the Council's draft response to the SERAS consultation be recommended to full Council for approval and submission to Government |
| ~12th October 2002 | High Court | Permission for Judicial Review granted—the first of its kind |
| Go to top of page |
| November 2002 |
| 13th November 2002 | High Court | First day of the three-day Judicial Review hearing |
| 23rd November 2002 | Rochester | Medway Big March: over 3,000 people meet up in Rochester Castle's gardens for a march along Rochester High Street and Corporation Street, proceeding to a rally at the Civic Centre in Strood |
| 26th November 2002 | High Court | Judicial Review decision—we won! |
| Go to top of page |
| February 2003 |
| 14th February 2003 | High Court | The planned march in London had to be postponed, owing to the difficult situation caused by the Iraq crisis |
| 27th February 2003 | High Court | Re-consultation begins with the publication of the second edition of the SERAS consultation document: unfortunately the Cliffe option is still included |
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| May 2003 |
| 25th May 2003 | Rochester | Launch of the No Airport @ Cliffe Action Group's poster campaign aimed at getting tourists to back the battle against a Cliffe Airport |
| 30th May 2003 | Various | Regional planning bodies call on government to develop services in other areas rather than the south-east. Also, a warning about the environmental implications of a Cliffe airport has been presented to members of the European Parliament |
