Representation by Patricia Dance
- Date submitted
- 8 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I would like to register as an interested party.
I have lived in Ramsgate for 28 years and am passionate about the town's future. I am deeply concerned by the applicant's proposals to open a cargo/freight hub on the old Manston airport site. I lived with my family under the flight path whilst previous incarnations of the airport were operational, and night flights had a significantly detrimental effect on my children's health, especially my son's, who developed [Redacted] and [Redacted] which in turn affected his education. During that time, we would regularly have a number of students lodging with us who had come to Ramsgate to learn English at one of our many EFL schools. Quite often, the noise of low-flying planes during the day made it difficult for them to concentrate and they would have to take the bus to Broadstairs' library (several miles away) in order to find a quiet space to study. So, one might ask how much worse the situation in Ramsgate and surrounding areas will be if this new proposal for a cargo hub gets the green light? If the noise, pollution and general impact on day-to-day life in Ramsgate was bad with only 300-400 flights per year, it will become simply intolerable with two or more flights per hour.
As one of the most deprived areas in the country, with painfully high levels of long-term/chronic illness, I cannot understand how this proposal has got so far. Speaking to neighbours, I was dismayed to find out that none of them had received any information from the applicant regarding the proposal, despite living in in an area which would potentially be worst affected. Many people locally still think RSP's proposal is for a passenger airline with no night flights. I do not understand how PINS has come to the conclusion that RSP's consultation activity was sufficient to allow them to pass to the pre-examination stage.
I am asking PINS now to fully examine the proposal before them and to properly weight up the pros and cons it will have for local people, especially residents in Ramsgate. I do not believe that opening a cargo hub will benefit the vast majority of people locally. At best it will provide a few minimum-wage jobs in a fragile, shrinking industry, at the cost of the health, education and quality of life of thousands of people. Ramsgate and Thanet deserve better than that, and our elected representatives should be working collaboratively with the community and business networks locally to attract sustainable employment opportunities to the area.