Representation by Diane Loveday
- Date submitted
- 19 September 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I live in Ramsgate directly under the flight path of the proposed cargo hub at the former Manston Airport, and I wish to register my concerns
I am a resident of Ramsgate who is concerned about plans to introduce a central cargo hub. The site is owned by regeneration experts, who renamed it Stone Hill Park, along with excellent plans, with the main focus on job creation and regeneration, which have been submitted to TDC for planning permission. SHP has a trackable and successful record, in marked contrast to RSP which is registered in Belize, with a very questionable funding statement, dependent upon obtaining the DCO to attract investment.
Aviation of this nature is unviable at the site, despite £100 million investment, including public money. Four reports from credible aviation experts: Falcon Consultancy July 2014, Avia Solutions August 2017, Altitude Aviations January 2018 and York Aviation November 2017 (which discredited the only favourable report by [Redacted] of Azimuth Associates) indicate that commercial aviation at the site is unviable, concluding the location is wrong for a freight hub, requiring a central location cf. Midlands.
The location is not isolated, but right on top of Ramsgate town, with 40,000 residents, whose lives would be blighted should they find a huge cargo hub on their door-step, along with 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.
Blight of tourism in Thanet. Ramsgate has managed to achieve some regeneration via tourism, which employs 100s of people, which would be blighted by a huge 24 hour cargo hub. The job forecasts supplied by RSP are based on fantasy, as it would be heavily automated, When Manston closed it employed only 144 people.
Industrialisation of Thanet. A report commissioned by TDC concludes a cargo hub would need to incorporate a major industry, eg car industry, with immediate despatch of products such as in the Midlands. This would completely change the land-scape of Thanet and cause wide-spread opposition.
Pollution in a highly populated area. Scientific studies have demonstrated the effects of airplanes on health, and a central cargo hub would not only pollute nearby Ramsgate of 40,000 residents, but other swathes of Thanet due to wind direction.
Sandwich & Pegwell Bay Nature Reserve is very close by to the proposed cargo hub, which would cause much suffering, and many objections.
The history of [Redacted] of RSP, who has a history of failing aviation ventures in Thanet and beyond. It is only the support of his long-term friend, Roger Gale MP, who has a questionable obsession in opening the cargo hub, which has helped him to delay regeneration plans for over 4 years' already, as TDC has refused to CPO the site for him.
Thanet is a deprived area, which urgently needs jobs and regeneration, which the owners are capable of delivering. Most of us residents regard RSP actions to be a disguise for a land grab in order to get their hands on building land, but we live in fear of a huge central cargo hub as indicated in their DCO submission.