Representation by PatrickGeorge Ltd (PatrickGeorge Ltd)
- Date submitted
- 7 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am writing to express my objection to the planning proposal to reopen Manston airport as a cargo hub.
I live and work from home, under the flight path. I object to the NOISE generated by cargo planes throughout the day and throughout the night (17000 flights a year, with a top capacity of 83,000). I run a publishing business and teach from home and cannot imagine having to compete with this noise and the incessant interruption. Having experienced the noise of low-flying cargo planes before the airport closed, I can vouch for the fact that it drowns out the sound of the radio or TV and rattles the window panes. Any communication literally stops whilst the plane flies over. This interrupts focus and concentration and speech thus rendering both coherent writing (for my publishing work) and conversation during lessons impossible. This would result in a loss of business. We have run our business from home for nearly a decade. If we were forced to move from our family home, I cannot see why anyone would wish to buy or rent a house whose foundations would be daily weakened by the constant reverberations of low-flying aircraft.
Viability of an airport at Manston? I would like to know how RSP think they could make an airport work without the level of cargo flights they are proposing. During my 12 years in Ramsgate, I have experienced three iterations of airport use, all of which have failed miserably. There is simply no need for an airport in this far-flung corner of Kent. Added to which, they are an offshore business fronted by someone with a history of failed aviation attempts. A 1993 report by the Department of Trade and Industry found Manston unsuitable for development as a major airport because of its proximity to the town. There is need for housing and new business however, both of which are being proposed by the current owners, Stonehill Park, who have proposed sympathetic plans for the site.