Representation by Veronica Pratt
- Date submitted
- 11 September 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Heart beating rapidly, confusion and alarm -- these are the symptoms I remember when being woken up by incoming cargo flights in the middle of the night. And I have read many reports, including the Queen Mary report of 2015 to the Airports Commission, detailing research of the adverse effects of noise pollution on health. I consider that the RSP application deliberately underestimates the number of people who will be adversely affected by 24/7 cargo flights into Manston. It states that Ramsgate is 4km from the runway. Deliberately misleading. It is 4km from Ramsgate Harbour to the runway Economic benefits I work as a tourist guide, welcoming people to Ramsgate and showing them round a Grade I house owned by the Landmark Trust which is rented out as a self-catering holiday house. Who will want to visit Ramsgate and enjoy its harbour, cafes, bars and beaches when there are 24/7 cargo flights? The effect on the local economy would be disastrous. And this when we have been awarded Heritage Action Zone status. Direct jobs (local people employed locally) lost would far exceed the direct jobs created.
I can remember waking up in alarm, with elevated heartbeat, when cargo flights came into Manston. My house shakes, and the noise is unbearable. The RSP submission admits they will need night flights. This will be so injurious to the health of people in Ramsgate that there is no possible "business case". The fact that the flight path passes over three schools at 200m height or less means that education is severely disrupted - why destroy the future of these children? In my work as a tour guide I have enjoyed welcoming people to Ramsgate in its recent renaissance as a tourist destination. Many jobs in the local economy depend on this. Who will want to come to our waterfront cafes and Royal Harbour when they can't hear themselves think for aircraft noise. And how many direct jobs would a cargo hub airport provide? With increased automation, very few, and certainly not as many as the jobs that would be lost in the tourist economy.