Representation by Malcolm McMillan
- Date submitted
- 2 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I suspect RiverOak Strategic Partners has absolutely no charitable thoughts or love of Great Britain - they are a bunch of foreign investors and property developers with no aviation-based portfolio. The idea of building a 24/7 air cargo hub at Manston is in no way a form of honouring our RAF heroes of WWII or what they flew for - it is, actually, a gross insult to their memory. HMRC might be hoping for economic benefits but, with foreign backers and a Special Purpose Vehicle business registered in Belize being involved, there will be very little hope of any such financial return for our country's industry and financial institutions. I believe, if successful, the mooted PCO will result in the present owners having to hand over the whole Manston Airport plot to unknown foreign investors - not good news for post-Brexit Britain! The Isle of Thanet, according to RSP’s proposals, will experience “aircraft noise increase to a point where there would be a perceived change in the quality of life for occupants of buildings in these communities" in Ramsgate, Manston, Wade, West Stourmouth and Pegwell Bay. This view of our land, seas, homes and the very air that we breathe shows an amazing contempt for us, our children and grandchildren - who deserve better future prospects. We have got used to growing up breathing clean air, sleeping soundly at night, learning in some of the best schools in the country, without noisy cargo planes flying overhead at less than 1,000ft at all hours, night and day. I also believe that any commercial proposals will be doomed from the start - look what happened to EUJet and several other aviation projects. Manston is too far away from the industrial centres of Britain to make it a viable proposition. So, whatever RSP may claim, the reality is that GE Avia’s report reached a more realistic conclusion, saying “airport operations at Manston are very unlikely to be financially viable in the longer term and almost certainly not possible in the period to 2031”. I agree there is deprivation in Thanet and we do need jobs, but Thanet is on an upward curve at the moment, with many Londoners moving down here with their businesses, and many locals enjoying a healthy tourist trade. It will really be drawing on the lowest common denominator if an airport opens up and has nothing to offer locals but menial jobs, probably working night shifts for minimum wages! Ramsgate alone has seen the regeneration of the arches, trendy new cafes, restaurants and bars and a resurgence of arts and culture. Tourism jobs in Thanet have increased by a staggering amount in the last five years. In fact visits to the area grew by over 15% after the passenger planes stopped flying from Manston! The Government want us to build more houses somewhere in East Kent and Canterbury has announced that they have no more room and I (and many others) certainly don't want our green fields built upon. Manston is the ideal place. It's on high land and is well serviced with new roads. The whole issue, for me, is a "no-brainer". Let's get on with improving the residential aspects of Thanet rather than seeing an all-night cargo hub kill our towns stone dead. Malcolm McMillan Ramsgate resident