Representation by Sally Smart
- Date submitted
- 30 September 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I feel the proposals to reopen Manston airport as a cargo superhub have been fraught with uncertainty and misinformation. The highly technical documents offered by RSP have been deliberately obstructive to any clear and honest understanding of the proposals and I continue to feel very much in the dark about the real plans for the site and am alarmed that supporters of the proposals in Thanet are openly misleading residents into believing the airport will operate as a passenger terminal.
I would like an honest projection of the proposed cargo flights DAY and NIGHT from a much larger cargo hub than was operating before and an honest declaration of the intentions and projections for passenger flights.
I also have grave concerns about the damaging and intrusive impact of pollution from noise and fuel from living so close to the airport with no set limit on night flights and the impact of using aircraft deemed too noisy to operate out of Heathrow. I would therefore like sufficient and current data relating to the actual proposed impact on health and wellbeing for residents which RSP have failed to provide adequately and clearly.
Documentation about the use of noisier cargo planes requires further examination and I would like clear and honest noise projections. I have also received no information purporting to the compensation for noise pollution for residents living under the flight path. As a resident in a period property in Ramsgate I want to know how precisely how this would be delivered?
South Thanet is also home to designated nature reserves (Pegwell Bay and Monkton). RSP has failed to deliver adequate information about the impact of aircraft noise, vibrations and air pollultion on the local wildlife. I have bats (protected species) living at the end of my garden. The airport proposals do not detail any assessment of environmental impact beyond a kilometre of the airport and I would like to see a more detailed assessment of the impact for the whole of South Thanet.
I have found the commercial evidence to support the reopening of the airport ultimately unsatisfactory and inadequate and lacking concrete and substantiated details about how the proposals will be funded. I would like further explanation and solid proof that Thanet will directly benefit from the projection of 30,000 jobs. To this deprived corner of Kent this is a seductive and impressive statistic, but NO satisfactory financial business case has actually been able to adequately clarify HOW and WHERE these jobs will be created. In addition, evidence of the commercial viability of this venture has been confusing. Forecasts of air freight demand and profit margins need further proof to be at all believable.
Should a cargo hub be allowed to operate out of Thanet, I feel it will have a devastating impact on coastal tourism which is “now worth £8 billion to the economy”. I remain unconvinced that the airport will provide the regeneration and jobs that are promised and this is compounded by the continued mixed reports and misinformation about the actual proposed use for the site and the repeated historical failure of the site for commercial aviation use.
Ramsgate is a heritage town of national historical importance. It has the greatest concentration of heritage buildings from the Regency period anywhere in the UK many of which are listed and four conservation areas. It also boasts stunning unspoilt sandy coastlines which attract thousands of visitors every year. Tourism in Thanet was worth over £293 million in 2017. Tourism is growing rapidly in Thanet and nowhere is this more evident than in Margate. Tourism is a valuable source of employment.
I am deeply worried about the effect on our heritage assets and the impact on tourism of the proposed airport development and I am not satisfied that this has been adequately recognised or considered in RSP's proposals. As one of Historic England's Heritage Action Zones, the preservation of Ramsgate is in the national interest and I feel an urgent investigation into the impact of noise and air pollution, vibrations and aesthetic intrusion of cargo aircraft flying over Ramsgate is required.
Ramsgate is beginning to see the green shoots of its much needed regeneration and I feel the airport proposals would have a seriously and irreversibly adverse impact on the area for residents, visitors and those who come here to work.