Representation by J C Davies
- Date submitted
- 16 September 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Riveroak’s Major Accidents and Disaster Assessment and Mitigation Plan (TR020002/APP/5.2-3) fails to address the following risk factors adequately – (i) the proximity of Ramsgate (population 40,000) to the runway (ii) the number of schools under the flight path (iii) the height of the aircraft over Ramsgate (iv) the safety record of cargo aircraft at Manston Airport (v) the lack of capacity at local A&E for dealing with a major incident
A proper risk analysis would conclude that Manston should not be given planning permission as an airport let alone accorded a DCO.
Ramsgate is not 4km from the runway as Riveroak contends. (para 6.6, Statement of Reasons TR20002/App/3.1) The built-up area currently begins 1.3km from the runway and directly under the flightpath. It is 4.5km across Ramsgate from the outer edge of the Marina to the runway. The planes line up over the Grade 2 star listed Clock Tower and descend across the town. There are 4 schools directly under the flight path.
The Manston Green development has planning permission for 785 homes, is 500m from the end of the runway and directly under the flight path. It was awarded £2.5 million from the Housing Infrastruc-ture Fund this year. Some homes and the proposed fuel farm in Cliffsend are within 150m of the end of the runway.
“Aircraft will finally descent (sic) at 52m for each kilometre travelled, such that at the Marina, aircraft would be 235m above the aerodrome level (54m), or 289m above sea level.” (p14, London Manston Airport, Aircraft Noise Assessment and Mitigation Report, June 2003)
Schools of Flightpath Number of Pupils Distance to Runway Height of Aircraft Overhead Chilton Primary School 422 1.8km 117m Ellington Infant School 204 2.5km 135m Christ Church Primary 253 2.75km 153m Chatham & Clarendon 1372 3.5km 212m Grammar
SEL readings from the noise monitor 3.5km from the runway consistently recorded levels well in ex-cess of 90dB (datasets available).
When Manston was the UK’s sixth largest cargo hub, it had only 435 flights a year and yet we had incidents that very nearly resulted in major loss of life.
Examples include: 1. In August 2010, a KAM Air plane “struck its tail on the runway and the grass surface beyond the runway before becoming airborne during take-off from Manston Airport (United Kingdom). Investigations of this serious incident by the United Kingdom concluded that there were seri-ous deficiencies with the operational control of the DC8 fleet of Kam Air.” (para 14, COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 1071/2010). Riveroak proposes 70% of flights will take off over Ramsgate.
- In 2012, in a vortex incident in Southwood Gardens (2.5km to runway), the entire roof fell into a neighbour’s garden narrowly missing her. Had this happened at nearby Ellington Infant School during playtime, significant loss of life would have resulted.
Riveroak’s proposal of 10,000 flights per year will make teaching impossible in our schools and poses a major risk to public safety and public health in Ramsgate.