Representation by Gordon Vaughan
- Date submitted
- 14 September 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I would like to register my concerns and hope the planning inspectorate will ultimately object to the plans to turn the Manston airfield into a dirty, noisy freight cargo Hub. At the original pre-submission consultation meeting held in Herne Bay, the RSP personnel gave me conflicting information about their proposals, especially on the number of aircraft flights, but more importantly the number of night flights- “unlikely to be any, except in an emergency”, but they refused to give me any “maximum number of night time commercial or freight flights”, but eventually one chap told me “perhaps eight”. I therefore cannot believe any of their statements especially the “beneficial” information shown in their revised DCO documents. It is simply not true that it will ‘create 30,000 jobs in East Kent and the wider community’ and that noise mitigation will be considered where needed. The ‘worst case scenario’ of ‘eight flights a night,’ could actually be forty or so, looking at RSP’s own noise assessment submission. I believe they are simply not telling the truth. My wife and I moved to Herne Bay twelve years ago when the airport was operational, so we knew the airfield was present. During our time here in Herne Bay, we experienced firsthand the flights from Manston, but very few of those were the heavy cargo or freight flights which could happen now. When we did experience the small number of freight flights landing or taking off, the noise and vibration was horrendous. We could not have windows open at night, even in the summer because the noise generated from the aircraft were too much and I now fully fear for my own and my wife’s health and wellbeing should Manston be permitted to expand and become a major freight hub. We both have [Redacted] and other health problems and are over seventy years old, so we need our peace and sleep. Living under the flight path of a hub airport is nothing like the small airfield Manston was, and to now have the fear of what ‘might be’ is causing us concern, stress and extreme worry. Manston always had a night flight ban, except for emergencies, which is acceptable. At its height, there were some 500 flights a year, this expansion plan would mean at least 20,000 or more. This is totally unacceptable for all the reasons of a seaside town, where many have come to retire in what they believe is a quiet coastal town. I understand that an airport has NEVER proved financially viable at Manston because it is in the wrong place and RSP’s proposal was rubbished by York Aviation and others, upon whose work RSP based their business plan. The report said ‘ALL evidence points to Manston continuing to fail as a commercial proposition’. Please do everything you can to stop this Hub going ahead and blighting lives, the environment and economy in Thanet, by allowing noisy, polluting flights 24 hours a day.