Representation by Kit Jolly
- Date submitted
- 5 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I object to the proposal for the development of Manston Airport principally on grounds of noise and pollution, both in their immediate and consequential effects. As a resident of Ramsgate living under the flight path I recall only too well the negative impact of cargo flights over the town before the airport ceased operating, particularly at night, and the current proposal is for activity orders of magnitude above former levels.
The levels of noise anticipated will render parts of the town uninhabitable, whether or not residents affected have the financial means to escape. Consequences of noise include lost sleep, increased blood pressure, interruption to normal life including business, particularly tourism, and schools and all of these have serious and well-documented consequences for physical and mental health, well-being, educational achievement and local prosperity. Ramsgate has benefited significantly from growing tourism in the last few years, a development that can only be undone by subjecting visitors to constant noise and pollution. Ramsgate has also developed a significant professional music community, with studios, musicians and producers with international reputations and a live music venue of national standing. All of this would be compromised if not driven out by significant levels of aircraft noise.
Aviation is well-known to produce large quantities of pollution including carcinogens and particulates that directly affect the health of those exposed to them, leading to a catalogue of serious and chronic health problems. Additionally when the airport was open in the past residents and businesses (particularly restaurants) were all too familiar with the experience of cargo planes arriving over the channel dumping fuel on the beach and town. Quite apart from the fact that the people of Ramsgate have the same right to their health as anyone else, the area already has health issues that are worse than the national average and can ill-afford to have this additional burden on local health services.
With dense housing under the flight path only around 1.3km from the runway all of these effects would be magnified far beyond what may be experienced at other sites and matters can only get much worse as Thanet District Council proceeds with its plans to fill the area surrounding the east end of the runway with significant numbers of additional residential properties closer still than at present.
Aviation is also a significant and growing contributor of greenhouse gas emissions. At a time when at last actions are starting to be taken on a global scale to address the huge and pressing problem of anthropogenic climate change, building new cargo airports is reckless and irresponsible.