Representation by David Dagley
- Date submitted
- 5 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
To whom it may concern,
Way back in the early 80's I met[Redacted]( MP North Thanet Con.) at a friend's house. He told me he had a dream that Thanet should become once more the 'Pleasure Isle of Kent.' He wanted to find a way to welcome London holidaymakers back to the isle and hopefully woo them from foreign packages back to the heady days of the 1950's and 60's.
This I thought was a splendid idea but, for one reason or another, nothing happened and the Isle, with its uncertain climate, suffered greatly from the lack of summer visitors... that is until recently. Improving climatic conditions and millions of pounds invested in the Isle's tourist facilities ensured that visitors would come not only from London but from Europe and the wider world. The tourist trade has never been healthier and now employs a vast number of local people.
This is why I was surprised to learn that [Redacted] seems to be advocating that a freight hub be developed at Manston airport with all the resultant anti-visitor noise and pollution involved.[Redacted] of 'Visit Kent' said in 2016 “Thanet is the fastest growing tourist economy in the UK”.So why on earth would anyone want to ruin this fantastic opportunity?
Local employment from the proposed freight hub would be minuscule by comparison. The airport closed in 2014 with the very sad loss of 144 jobs across all departments. The tourist trade in 2016 according to 'Visit Kent' supported 7,312 jobs for local residents with 6,403 of these directly involved in tourism. Imagine how these numbers shot up this year.
Imagine too how the returning 'staycationers' would react to having their children woken at any odd hour of the night and made to breathe aero fuel in the town and on the beaches during the day? I was born in Broadstairs in 1938. In the 1950's I worked, during my school summer holidays, for Sunbeam Photos on Viking Bay.I'm no statistician so I leave that to those more qualified than me to argue the case against the hub. But I love the Isle and would hate to see it ruined for my daughter and granddaughter. My family and I live around 500m from the main runway and I fear that aircraft noise and smell will affect all of us significantly. In addition I am concerned for the residents of Ramsgate who live,work and play directly under the huge planes' flightpath.