Representation by Andrew McCulloch
- Date submitted
- 1 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I support the DCO application for the following reasons - by no means an exhaustive list 1. Improved educational opportunities. Within the summary of this project is a proposal for a flight training school. Prior to the closing of the airport by the present owners the site accommodated a flight training school which, amongst other graduates, produced two pilots who went on to fly with the Red Arrows. 2. Improved employment opportunities. Within their project summary RSP propose: ? New air cargo facilities ? An aircraft recycling centre ? Aircraft maintenance facilities and airport related businesses on the Northern Grass ? Major reconstruction works All real jobs that Thanet desperately needs 3. Business. Airports attract businesses. Along with the direct employment provided by the airport itself there will be indirect employment. Many of these businesses will provide high quality jobs (hopefully including apprenticeships) as an alternative to the zero-hours, low skills employment presently on offer to many of our young residents as they leave school. 4. Regeneration. In 2015 Thanet was the 28th most deprived area in England according to MCLG data; in 2010 it was the 49th most deprived so the situation had worsened and is still deteriorating. Cliftonville West ward was ranked 4th out of 32,844 LSOAs in England placing it within England’s most deprived 1% of small areas. Thanet has some 10,500 under 18s living below the poverty line, equating to 34.7% of the district’s youngsters. This in a part of England not normally associated with deprivation. At present it is not a natural area for companies to set up business, having no natural employment magnets to attract new enterprises; a fact reinforced by Patricia Davies, the Senior Responsible Officer for the Kent and Medway Stroke Review, who has stated that one of the reasons for withdrawing specialist stroke cover from Thanet is because of the difficulty in recruiting suitable staff to the area. An airport would change this and set the district on the road to recovery, offering hope to some if not all of those 10,500 youngsters and their families.