Representation by Bethany Chater
- Date submitted
- 25 September 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I have lived happily in Ramsgate all my life with my family, I am now approaching my 30's and I remember when I was younger the horrific noise, pollution and damage to properties (roof tiles flying off houses directly under the flight path) cargo flights would cause, especially at night. The planes were huge, and quite frightening to suddenly be awoken in the middle of the night by one, or several throughout the night. I strongly believe that as a direct result of these frequent occurances, I am much more sensitive to loud noises and have suffered with [Redacted] from a young age too. This is not good for health, valuable childhood education or mental wellbeing.
The re-opening of the cargo airport will also have a detrimental affect on wildlife, especially around Monkton Nature Reserve and Pegwell where protected species are living and thriving. I also believe Ramsgate isn't fit for purpose for a cargo airport, let alone for any airport. Ramsgate's growing population = more houses to be built than there already are, resident numbers are going to go up, all within a relatively small scale area. How can we expect a cargo airport to fit in our small town too? The 'safe area' is also an issue - many houses within Nethercourt will have to be demolished, a popular family estate. This makes no sense when we lawfully have to provide more housing.
Traffic is also an existing issue in Ramsgate, and wider Thanet, especially around Westwood area. It is a nightmare. The traffic will become much worse, especially with more lorries and our road infrastructure will simply not be able to cope. Thus more pollution too.
I strongly believe it is a crazy idea to bring back ANY airport to Manston based on my opinion and the few facts above, let alone a cargo airport which Manston, nor Thanet is fit for purpose. It has failed before, and it can and will certainly fail again and again. It will not bring more people to the area, which is happening right now (many people from London and afar for example are moving to Thanet which is great for the local economy), but instead it will turn people away from our lovely town and force residents to move. I have seen Ramsgate improve a lot over the last few years (especially around the Harbour area) and is considered again a desirable seaside town to move to, at last! However, the wider impact of adding a cargo hub will be catastrophic, resulting in loss of jobs, valuable income and improvement of our town = Ramsgate's reputation will go down and it will not be a pleasant, safe, nor environmentally friendly place to bring up a family. This must stop and I represent the majority of Ramsgate's residents and visiting residents and their very, very concerned views.