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Representation by Mrs A Batcheler

Date submitted
8 October 2018
Submitted by
Members of the public/businesses

I live with my husband and our three young children in Ramsgate. I would like to object to the proposal for a cargo hub at Manston for the following reasons.

  1. I believe that this would have a direct impact of the health of my children (and ours), not only from the reduction in air quality caused by the pollution from the aircraft, but also from sleep deprivation. When Manston was previously a functioning airport with day flights, the occasional late flight would have my son in tears as we are directly under the flight path and the noise levels were terrible for a child alone in bed and trying to sleep).

  2. I think the noise levels would affect their concentration at school (once again their school is under the flight path).

  3. Ramsgate is now an up and coming tourist destination, particularly popular with those living in London. Hotels & guest houses are opening and bars and restaurants rely on these people to help support the local economy. Who is going to want to stay in a hotel directly under a flight path? Clearly, a cargo hub would have a shocking affect on the tourist industry.

  4. There isn't the infrastructure to support the lorries that would need to travel into Manston to provide transport for the cargo. The Thanet Way is already busy and there are numerous accidents on this section of road. Huge lorries would only exacerbate the problem.

  5. Statistics show that landing is the most dangerous part of flying. These old cargo planes (and let's be honest, they were old and noisy before, nothing will have changed) will be coming in to land over Ramsgate. This in itself poses a massive risk for the local community. Are the people of Ramsgate not entitled to a safe place to live?

As I said, I'm a mum of three. I also work as a nurse at the Pilgrims Hospice, Thanet. I haven't had much time to formulate my objections and therefore my submission is brief. However, wanted my objections to be noted. Thank you for taking the time to read my submission.