Representation by Ramsgate Neighbourhood Plan Group (Ramsgate Neighbourhood Plan Group)
- Date submitted
- 7 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
We ask PINS to consider the merits of the location and to weigh the purported strategic importance of RSP’s application for a Development Consent Order against the dis-benefits of the proposal for the people of Ramsgate.
A neighbourhood plan is a community-led planning framework for guiding the future development, regeneration and conservation of an area. Through our Neighbourhood Plan we are seeking to:
• develop and improve connections within and between the town centre, harbour and beaches, and to the neighbouring countryside and coast, for the benefit of all areas of the town; • retain and protect Ramsgate’s positive features while allowing for change in the years ahead.
These aims with their implied benefit for the people of Ramsgate seem inconsistent with RSP’s proposals for the re-opening of a defunct airport with a runway just 1.25 km from the nearest houses and directly in line with the town centre, main sands and Royal Harbour.
We have looked at RSP’s DCO application and have particular concerns that: • a site on a peninsular served by a dual carriageway should be considered a suitable location for aninternational cargo hub; • a catchment area with no major industrial sites or distribution centres and a small population is an odd choice, given that within a relatively short distance, road access to Gatwick and Heathrow is better than road access to Manston; • RSP admits its proposals would be damaging to the health of people in Thanet; • RSP’s proposals for night flights are inconsistent and downplay the likely impact; • RSP proposes a system of fines for excessive noise but supplies no information on who would decide if noise was excessive and who would benefit from the fines; • Existing noise levels are overstated, especially in relation to heritage assets: Ramsgate is a small town with relatively little through traffic and no background noise from motorways; • RSP suggests the setting of historic assets would not be adversely affected by increased noise: most of our historic assets are residential properties: • Effects of reverse thrust on approach, deviation from flight path, discharge of unburnt aviation fuel etc are either ignored or dismissed and are seen as outside RSP’s control; • Effects of air pollution on the cognitive development and physical health of children and adults are widely known but downplayed by RSP: • The visual impact of low-flying planes would be detrimental to the setting of our beaches, historic harbour and conservation areas.
In June 2017 Ramsgate Town Council with RNPG commissioned a Commonplace survey to find out what people wanted from the Neighbourhood Plan. There were no questions about the former airport site because it is outside the town boundary. However, a number of people chose to comment on the possibility of the airport re-opening: a majority of those who commented considered that the return of aviation would have a negative impact on the town. The results of the survey can be seen at:
[Redacted]