Representation by Enrique Castro Sanchez
- Date submitted
- 9 September 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I intend to focus on the health impact of the proposed development, for several reasons. I am a nurse with 20 years of experience in clinical work, plus 8 years as researcher in public health. I am also married to someone with asthma.
I am very concerned that there has been no health impact assessment conducted or made available at the time of this representation. It is not therefore possible to understand, and appraise, the breadth and depth of the health impact that the proposed development would have. The applicant rightly mentions noise as a health impact, but as there is no health impact assessment, nor clear information or simply obscure information about the methodology used to arrive at the noise contours presented in the application, it is not possible to model the variety of health effects surely to be experienced by the population affected, more than 50000 people. The health effects are not just limited to noise and disturbed sleep, but it is necessary to also consider the cardiometabolic (heart health) effect of noise, vibration and stress. Such effect would be of particular concern in this area of the country, already exhibiting poorer health outcomes than average.
Further, there has not been any assessment of the impact of pollution from fuel and aviation-use particles, recognised to affect lung health. The applicant's view that the effect of such particles is not known or likely to be minimal is not supported by current, undisputable scientific evidence from well conducted studies. These pollution-related effects would be compounded by the likely increase of lorry traffic supplying fuel and transporting the cargo from the airport to London and elsewhere.
As such health impact assessment has not been conducted, it is not possible to estimate the airport-related additional attributable health costs incurred by Kent County Council and the local NHS economy, and which should be incorporated to any economic assessment of the airport. For example, it would be crucial to also take into account the potential for loss of employment among those employed and which may result from the lack of or suboptimal sleep.
In essence, as a healthcare worker and resident in Ramsgate and husband of a person at increased risk of ill health due to the proposed development, I am extremely concerned about the lack of information and transparency demonstrated by the applicant regarding the likely, longstanding and severe health impact from this project.