Representation by Paul Naudin
- Date submitted
- 8 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
As a resident of Ramsgate, I am writing to object to Riveroak Strategic Partners' plans to create a cargo hub at Manston. I will give a personal statement based on my own experience and observations. My Partner and I moved to Pegwell, on the southern edge of Ramsgate in 2012, having had a prospective visit earlier in the year. Within a couple of hours of arriving on our house-hunting visit we were confronted with our first low flying airplane over the harbour coming in to land at Manston. We asked the estate agent showing us various properties about this and were told there were few planes and that the airport was on its way out. This proved to be a surprisingly accurate assessment and prediction. Pegwell, where I reside, is not directly under the flight path but near enough for the planes to be a prominent feature, especially on busier days. One of the more notable effects was the thrust of the engines at landing causing a large thud to the front door and windows. I did experience however on a regular basis the effects of being directly under the flightpath when shopping in St Laurence. This is one of the highest points this side of town and as the planes had lowered considerably on their final approach, the effect was pretty hair-raising. The end of the runway is less than 1.5 miles away from St Laurence High Street. Early in 2014 I purchased a property in Ramsgate High Street with a ground floor shop and three floors of residential space above, intended for rental. While renovating the property during the last few months of operation at the airport, the reality of the airplanes coming in to land became quite stark, being directly under their path. While inside the property, conversations would have to stop and looking out of the window the large cargo planes were low enough for the pilot to be seen clearly. From this experience, and studying the envisaged quotas in RSP's plans (along with night flights which have clearly been provisioned for and realistically needed for a cargo hub to operate), it is obvious that the intended airport would be a much larger operation than its previous incarnation and the figures for the number of annual minimum flights are extremely alarming. It is clear that the disruption to everyday life would be enormous and relentless, and frankly unlivable. The many efforts of residents to bring life back into the town would be wrecked and many businesses would be fatally affected, my own included. It is one thing living next to a country road and a whole other next to a motorway.