Representation by Minster Parish Council
- Date submitted
- 4 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Parish councils
I am responding as Chairman of Minster Parish Council on behalf of the parish council: The majority of Manston Airport lies within the Parish of Minster, therefore Minster Parish Council maintains a keen interest in the outcome of this process. The future of this site has long been a contentious issue, however the agreed position of the parish council is to support aviation use on this site. This would provide much needed employment and encourage further investment in the area. Our early response to RSP proposals did raise a number of concerns on behalf of our residents which included noise & air pollution and environmental impact. The detailed reports provided for this consultation process address most of the concerns in this area. The remaining concerns are night flights and infrastructure: We seek assurance that night flights will be kept to a minimum. Many residents have experienced night flights in the past when the airport was operational and understand the need for them, but would emphasise that the number must be limited. The major concern is the inadequate road infrastructure surrounding the airport site. It is accepted that this should have been addressed by Kent County Council many years ago but it was not and there is little point in looking back. Whatever use is made of this site in the future a priority must be given to improving road access to the area, not just when it becomes operational but in the construction phase. Our residents will be severely impacted by the increased volume of traffic on the roads surrounding the airport and in particular the freight traffic. In short, we would welcome the re-instatement of a fully operational airport on the Manston site to provide a much needed injection of life into Thanet, providing the infrastructure is improved to reduce the negative impact on our residents.