Representation by Richard Perton
- Date submitted
- 8 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I would like the planning inspectorate to investigate the following points when considering plans for an airfreight hub at Manston.
Firstly the rationale in having a hub on the far Southeastern tip of the country. Each freight plane can carry around 50 tonnes of cargo. This means that even if the load continued its journey on the very largest fully laden vehicles it would need two 44 ton artics for each aircraft. In reality the likelihood is that the freight would be forwarded on smaller vehicle and on average there would be five or more vehicles of varying sizes required to take the load from one aircraft. These vehicles would have to travel 75 miles to reach London, and have to travel half way around the already congested M25 and then 100 to 250 miles further to reach other major cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. A more traditionally located hub in keeping with the definition of the word, near the centre of the country, makes more economic and environmental sense.
The health impact of having night flights and allowing noisier freight planes than Heathrow allows, on local residents when the town of Ramsgate begins less than a mile from the end of the runway. A proposal to reverse the previous 70:30 spit of flights taking off and landing East of the runway over Ramsgate to make 70% take off in a westerly direction over Herne Bay is clearly not an option as take off and landing is mostly governed by wind direction. Herne Bay itself has a fast growing population and is only 12 miles from the runway. Populations of both town and villages would be of greater risk of hypertension and stroke if the hub should be allowed, as studies at Athens and other European airports have shown. Incidences of Depression, Asthma COPD and various Cancers are also likely to rise due to disturbed sleep, increase NO2, SO2, CO and particulates released both by the aeroplanes and road freight needed for distributing the goods.