Representation by Clare Dove
- Date submitted
- 8 October 2018
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Objections to the proposal for a 24/7 365 air-freight cargo hub:- Background I moved to Ramsgate from London in 1991. This was to enjoy the amenity of living in a beautiful part of Kent and to raise a family. The noise and air pollution in London were already taking a toll on my health and I had become increasingly stressed as the capital became more congested and commuting more time-consuming.
Manston then, had infrequent flights, annual air shows and facilities for light aircraft and gliders. It was tolerable, not a major threat to the well-being of Thanet people nor the residents of Ramsgate living under the flight path.
After the MOD had decided that it was no longer strategically viable the airport was then operated by companies who despite previous business success could not make a commercial success of the airport. When the owners, Infratil, wanted to run night-flights, as this was the only way to make the airport work financially, the residents in Ramsgate and Herne Bay fought to prevent this destructive potential from becoming established. We still experienced unscheduled night-flights which were so loud and under 500 feet that they broke people’s sleep. Airline circuit training would mean that you could no longer enjoy time outside, with repeated, frightening, irregular approaches over Ramsgate. Activities in schools, churches, homes and the street would be interrupted. The smell of aviation fuel affected the people of Ramsgate and further afield.
Since the airport has been closed life has been substantially improved.
I am concerned about the well-being of my family. I have a relative here in a care home. The residents would be prone to increases in strokes and upset with the volume of noise. I have [Redacted] . Any loud noise worsens these hearing /sensory problems with aircraft flying over my house below 700ft. The stress and related health problems that this proposal will bring to Thanet, intense pollution within 3 square miles and up to six square miles from the airport, is a threat to public health. I have a baby who lives with me whose future health will be irrevocably damaged by ATM’s day and night.
Financially, our homes are blighted by this proposal.
The summary of the main points:-
- Inadequate consultation by RSP.
- Business model dependent on night-flights.
- Proposal doesn’t account for the increase in population and proposed housing. A non-public safety zone. Environmental effects, particularly to the SSRI, MCZ, Ramsar's, etc. which occupy the adjacent coastline.
- Affecting all aspects of people’s lives - living and built environment subjected to air, water, noise pollution and structural damage to architecture and infrastructure.
- Health impacts, with supporting evidence.
- Safety. Contingencies for the real risk to the 40,000 population of Ramsgate caused by a major plane crash, caused by accident or terrorist action. The emergency services and medical provision are wholly inadequate in Thanet and East Kent to cope with any such disaster.
- Demands on county’s infrastructure and air pollution targets.