Representation by Lesley Miller
- Date submitted
- 5 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am a Ramsgate resident living in the Eastcliff area, directly under the proposed flight path for the new RiverOak cargo hub venture. I live in a Grade 2 listed building in a conservation area, and previously experienced first-hand the terrible noise, shaking of property and destruction of quality of life when day flights used to access Manston airport. The aircraft often fly low over the harbour area - and there were times when they were so low it looked like they may actually land in the high street. The noise and air pollution where a significant issue for us as local residents, and these were generally a smaller number of day flights. When flights did occur at night it would wake us up and my young daughter would cry because of the noise and the vibrations in the house. I understand that the cargo hub venture proposed is likely to involve a number of regular night flights with larger, older and more polluting cargo aircraft, so I believe this will have a significant detrimental impact to my life, that of my family and many other local residents. My daughter is now at primary school and in the significant developmental years for learning. It is an accepted fact that sleep deprivation and disturbance can have a serious impact on a child's ability to learn - so my fear is that the proposed cargo hub and night flights will have an extremely negative effect on her development and that this could have a longer term impact on her opportunities in life is she does not get a good education. Due to the age of our property and its Listed Building status it will be impossible to do any suitable sound-proofing or protective measure that could diminish the harm of the proposed cargo flight service. RiverOak do not seem to make any meaningful or realistic offers on how they will remedy the noise and pollution issues for those affected. Additionally, Ramsgate has a rich heritage which is now only just being fully appreciated with some real regeneration opportunities as a vibrant coastal town with lots to offer holidaymakers, visitors and business and residents who have moved here especially to make the most of the burgeoning art and culture scene. I cannot see how the proposed cargo hub will benefit this - in fact, quite the opposite as people will not wish to visit or stay if their time is disturbed by noisy night flights. Without visitors and holidaymakers then many of the business set up as part of the regeneration of the area are likely to fail or leave - leading to socio-economic decline in the area again. From the documents I have read on the RiverOak proposal, it seems that there are a number of inaccuracies including unexplained, biased or missing data about likely job creation in the area and the financial benefits that the area will experience from re-opening the airport in this way. From my time living in Ramsgate, Manston has never been a financially viable airport and even when open only created a small number of jobs for local residents. RiverOak also have done very little consultation with residents like myself that will be directly affected by their proposal. We only had one very short notice and under promoted meeting available to us and they have not done any active engagement in the Eastcliff area. I do hope you will consider my comments as part of you review of the viability of the RiverOak proposal and my family and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about our concerns.