Representation by Nadiah Pasha
- Date submitted
- 4 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I have lived in central Ramsgate for the past forty years and as I understand it my family and I would be in the direct flight path of the proposed Riveroak Strategic Partners (RSP) cargo hub at Manston.
Please find below my reasons for objecting to this.
The number of flights proposed. RSP offers no enforceable caps on the number of Air Traffic Movements, including the flights at night. I find this shocking. We live so close to Manston and not only would our peace be disturbed during the day impacting on all of us. Our sleep also would be greatly impaired. The World Health Organization has published guidelines providing governments with strong justification for regulating exposure to night noise and clear guidance on desirable limits. This should not exceed 40 decibels. RSP’s proposals for mitigating the noise they create for individual residents say they would offer £4000 towards sound insulation and only for people living where the applicants says people will experience over 63 decibels continuously averaged over a 16 hour period.
The impact on our health. Nitrogen Dioxide pollution (NO2). RSP claim that there is 'scientific uncertainty about the health effects of NO2'. The European Environmental Agency reported in an article published in the Guardian newspaper dated November 2016 that the UK is second only to Italy in Europe for the highest number of annual deaths from a major air pollutant NO2. MEPs in the European parliament have approved caps for five air pollutants including NO2 to come into force in 2030. There is a lot of evidence that NO2 is harmful to our health.
The impact on the environment. We live close to the nature reserve in Sandwich and Pegwell bay. This is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Special Protection Area (SPA). This is a place me and my family regularly go to to relax and enjoy the peace. The impact of RSP's proposal here would be devastating due to the pollution and noise.
In 2017 Ramsgate became one of the first Historic England's Heritage Zones and we are the only one in the South East Region. This is a 5 year programme covering the whole of Ramsgate. Its aim is to create economic growth and improve the quality of life in old places that are rich in heritage. RSP understates the impact of their development upon this. Specifically an inadequate regard to Historic Englands guidance on calculation of the effects of aviation on the historic environments including the physical damage caused by noise and low frequency vibration and the human response to noise.