Representation by Hilary Scott
- Date submitted
- 5 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am a housewife living on Nethercourt Estate. I am against the granting of a DCO for a 24/7 Freight Hub at Manston and ask you the Planning Inspectorate to fully investigate RSP’s proposals as very many are flawed and unreliable. ? I was not informed by RSP of their consultation earlier in the year. Nether were my neighbours. Since then we have been told conflicting information especially with regard to air traffic movements especially at night. Have RSP made a concerted effort to find any alternative location In the first instance where are RSP’s funds are coming from. It seems they are relying on a successful DCO to raise the funds I understand that that if this goes ahead you will be granting a DCO to an offshore shell company based in Belize with no track record that may in all reality be unable to complete the project through lack of funds.
RSP as a company have no experience in aviation. [Redacted] has a history of running companies that fail, at one point being in charge at Manston when it went into receivership. Manston has failed 3 times under different owners losing £100m during its 15 years as a commercial airport. TDC & KCC spent millions of pounds of local ratepayer's money trying to support an enterprise that according to many aviation experts has no possibility of success
I question RSP’s claim that this is an NSIP. Why do we (the nation) need another freight hub when there is a lot of spare capacity in centrally located airports that are better equipped for freight and have better transport links to all over the country. At Manston they would have to rely on A299 then the M2, which is only 2 lanes, then the A2 and the M25 and finally the Dartford crossing which is already very heavily used & congested causing lots of accidents and pollution.
Noise: RSP & their Legal team have said there will be night flights. The aircraft will be about 450ft above my house with noise levels of 90db regularly recorded over Ramsgate. You can not have a conversation, hear the television or use the telephone with noise levels that high. I doubt friends or relatives will wish to stay anymore. My sleep will be disturbed something that exacerbates the mental heath problems I suffer with already. I will not be able sit out and enjoy my garden something I enjoy which helps with my [Redacted]. There is also vibration on the houses which in time will make them unsafe. Damage from aircraft vortices has already occurred here several times. One of my dogs is inconsolable with anxiety when there are loud noises & I fear that she will have to be put to sleep. It seems RSP are not offering any compensation for noise insulation. Even if they did it means I won’t be able to have my windows open even in hot weather like we had this year
Pollution : I live less than 2km from the airport and our estate suffers some of the worst pollution. Unburnt fuel & antifreeze was dumped over the estate when Manston was operation. There is also noxious fumes & particulates that you can smell and taste. Plants didn’t grow well and ponds had a film of aircraft fuel on them. I enjoy my garden and I find that tending it helps with my health. I will not be able to peg my washing out because of the pollution.
Safety: Because of my proximity to the airport and Ramsgate Town I will be in a constant state of anxiety and fear that the aircraft will come down on us. There is no other residential area in UK that has an airport so close, and as most accidents happen within take off and landing ( first 3 mins /last eight mins) We would be in a 1;10,000 risk area given that RSP are saying the airport would have a capacity of 83,000 ATMs the possibilities of a major incident are high. When Manston was open even with the very limited ATMs there were several dangerous incidents.
Ecology: I am also concerned about damage to the local ecology. There is an SSSI very close at Pegwell where many different birds feed and nest. Our garden and surrounding area is home to many small birds that are suffering a decline elsewhere. It is doubtful they would continue to flourish under the flight path.
If this DCO was successful it would make tens of thousands of peoples lives a misery & blight what is a lovely town that is benefitting from an increase in tourism that is more sustainable than an airport would be.