Representation by Harbour Towers Residents Association (Harbour Towers Residents Association)
- Date submitted
- 8 September 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Harbour Towers Residents Association (HTRA) Sir, Harbour Towers is an 8-story, 45 flat tower block, housing approximately 100 people at an elevated position in Ramsgate directly on the previous and proposed eastern flight path. The residents, having suffered the deleterious effects of noise and pollution during the years that the three times failed Manston airport was operational, are appalled and extremely apprehensive at the possibility that we are facing worse if the disastrously flawed plans for a 24/7 cargo hub goes ahead. The number of incidents of sleep deprivation due to the night flights and pollution from dumped aviation fuel that occurred when there were an average of 400 flights per annum pale into insignificance when compared to the 17,000 movements mooted in the RSP proposal. Reports from aviation experts Falcon Consultancy, Avia solutions, York Aviation and Altitude Aviation Advisory testify to the fact that there is no necessity or industry enthusiasm for a cargo hub on a site that is to the furthest eastern part of the UK and is surrounded on three sides by sea. Indeed figures from the Civil Aviation Authority show that the number of dedicated freight flights has shrunk by more than half in the 19 years since Manston became a commercial airport. The Department for transport estimated in 2017 that freight flights in the UK will remain at 2016 levels until at least 2050. Given all of these assessments of the lack of commercial need for dedicated freight movements (also bearing in mind that 95% of all freight in this country is carried in the belly hold of passenger aircraft) it is impossible for the residents of Harbour Towers to understand why a cargo hub at Manston is considered to be in the national interest. None of the Harbour Towers residents are experts in either aviation or the commercial aspects of air freight. The mix of residents varies between retired and working business people, manual workers and some unfortunately temporarily unemployed. Most of those residents that have managed to obtain and read the RSP proposals (invitations to any consultation events were never delivered to the block) are troubled by the lack of solid or proven information on the governance, financial probity and lack of a track record in aviation facility operation of the applicant. The one self-professed aviation expert on the RSP board presided over at least 2 of the failed airport iterations. We understand that the Planning Inspectorate is unhappy with the funding statement which does not comply with the guidance issued under the DCO protocols. Surely this is a fundamental tenet of the process and without compliance it is impossible to see how the DCO should go ahead Stuart Carter Vice Chairman HTRA