Representation by Hayley Corker
- Date submitted
- 8 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
As a grant manager for a local grant making trust I believe that a cargo airport would be detrimental to the economies of both Ramsgate and Herne Bay, lying under the flight path of Manston airport. Thanet is the most deprived district in Kent, with the highest level of child poverty in Kent and one of the highest levels of child poverty nationally. A cargo airport is totally at odds with the steady tourism growth in the area which has been incrementally creating opportunities for local people over the last few years. Thanet's popularity as a tourist destination will most certainly decrease and there are no reliable figures available for the jobs which would be available to the largely low skilled local workforce with the development of a cargo airport.
Thanet is a densely populated urban area and an active cargo hub would affect the quality of life of thousands of people. The detrimental affects will include a decrease in air quality, increased noise levels and traffic congestion as a result of poor road infrastructure which isn't designed to support frequent freight traffic. It is well documented that the noise pollution from aeroplanes affects children's learning. In an area where deprivation levels are high and education is the vehicle for change for children, any negative affects on education would further undermine social mobility in a very deprived area.
I left Thanet in 2001 to study at university and thought I would never return to what I viewed as such a deadbeat area. I was excited to return to the popular tourist hub in 2016 and it felt like the area was undergoing an economic and cultural regeneration, spurred on mostly by local residents both new and old. A noisy, dirty cargo airport will most certainly undermine the regeneration of the local area and potentially send Thanet and Herne Bay back in to decline.