Representation by Barry Quinn
- Date submitted
- 7 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am a resident of Ramsgate who is really concerned about plans to introduce a dirty and noisy central cargo hub that will blight the town, which is finally shaking off decades of decline by developing as a tourist destination and as a place where increasing numbers of people from elsewhere choose to live and invest in. Ramsgate is also one of the best examples of a regency seaside resort in England, with over 440 listed buildings crammed into a relatively small area. Historic England state that Ramsgate enjoys an extraordinary inheritance of historic buildings and places reflecting the dual but at times separate developments of the town and Royal Harbour Over time many of these buildings, which had fallen into disrepair, have been restored by local people and people who have moved to Ramsgate, yet all this work will be undone by the opening of a noisy cargo hub which will see Ramsgate’s peace and tranquillity destroyed and it losing any attraction as a place to live in, visit and invest in.
The nature of a cargo hub and the number of flights being suggested and the extreme proximity of Manston to the centre of Ramsgate means that the town will become a living hell, people who remember the airport of old talk of their houses rattling and unbearable noise levels, but this is nothing to what is being proposed by RSP. Their plans for a huge cargo hub include night flights, which are central to RSP plans for cargo movement. A previous local poll resulted in strong opposition to night flights, with a rejection to the noise and disturbance on health and quality of life. Indeed a 1993 report by the Department of Trade and Industry, examined runway capacity in South East England and found Manston unsuitable for development as a major airport because of its proximity to the town, surely this is still the case
Currently the site is owned by Stone Hill Park, regeneration experts, who have a focus on job creation and regeneration that have been submitted to TDC for planning permission. SHP has a successful track record, in marked contrast to RSP, registered in Belize, with a very questionable funding model, dependent on obtaining the DCO to attract investment. As mentioned Ramsgate has managed to achieve some regeneration via tourism, which employs 100s of people, which would be endangered by a huge 24 hour cargo hub. The job forecasts of RSP are not backed by facts, as it would be heavily automated, When Manston closed it employed only 144 people. Scientific studies have demonstrated the effects of airplanes on health, and a central cargo hub would not only pollute nearby Ramsgate, but most of Thanet due to wind direction. Also I want to mention Sandwich & Pegwell Bay Nature Reserve, which includes Kent’s only remaining ancient dune pasture, it is very close to Manston, what effect will the cargo hub have on its nationally significant populations of nightingales and a reintroduced population of the almost extinct Sand Lizard.