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Advice to Michael Child

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Enquiry

From
Michael Child
Date advice given
6 September 2017
Enquiry type
Email

Many thanks for the update, I fully understand that a large volume of enquiries would be an issue as the airfreight hub would have a considerable impact on several thousand people. A problem is, that because the applicant failed to notify the people who would be directly and negatively affected by the DCO, that the applicant had applied for a DCO and how people would be negatively effected by its implementation, then there will be an ongoing drift of information into local communities and ongoing repetition of the same information, by pins and everyone else involved. The applicants own PEIR clearly states:- 1 That there will be a noise impact particularly on Residents of Ramsgate who are under the immediate low flying and unchangeable runway approach and on the takeoff route which is yet to be determined so could have noise impact on any of the towns and villages to the west of the runway up to about 20km away and covering the north south East Kent landmass. 2 That there may be night flights. 3 That there will be reductions in life expectancy related to air pollution particularly PM2.5 particulates. These wouldn’t have dispersed significantly before reaching the coastline when travelling in the prevailing wind direction and would probably be concentrated in the coastal towns when the airflow meets the onshore sea breeze. It is important that affected people should be aware of the DCO and be able to make and informed choice, balancing the economic benefits against negative health impacts affecting them personally. The most important aspect of this is the air pollution issue, assuming the “reduced life expectancy” stated in applicant’s PEIR document translates as “kill people” and while the DCO process is a slow, research into air pollution issue is moving rapidly at the moment. The most recent related news item being The Ford Motor Company’s announcement of a scrappage scheme.
The PEIR document’s information on particulate air pollution was already out of date when it was published as it failed to include the recently published results of studies involving 312,944 people in nine European countries, these results concluded the situation was much worse than previously thought and stated also in the PEIR. Many NHS websites detail these studies here is a link to one of the clearest articles http://www.ramseyhealthcentre.co.uk/Library/bth/articles/2013/july/air-pollution-linked-to-lung-cancer-and-heart-failure I am interested in the rapidly changing situation regarding air pollution related to airport facilities e.g. this important and related report has only just been published https://www.matec-conferences.org/articles/matecconf/pdf/2017/32/matecconf_icce2017_00023.pdf I did try to enter into a dialogue with the applicant’s environmental team after the previous non statutory consultation and was encouraged to do this by pins, however communication was unsatisfactory inasmuch as they failed to reply after asking for my contact details and saying that they would. My understanding is that at the moment the DCO process is still front loaded and that environmental mitigation measures are still being formulated, so should I be communicating recent related information to either pins or the applicant or still be engaged in any dialogue related to the DCO with pins, the applicant, any other body?

Advice given

At this point in the planning process (the Pre-Application stage) we would advise you to liaise directly with the Applicant, as the application for the proposed development is still in the process of being developed, and as such your views still have the opportunity to shape the application.

If the application is accepted for Examination you will be able to submit your views to the Planning Inspectorate during the Relevant Representation stage. By submitting a representation during this stage you will be registered as an Interested Party to the project, whereby you will be kept informed of the progress of the project, and your views may be taken into consideration by the Examining Authority assigned to the Examination of the project. I have attached for your information our Advice Note 8.2: How to register to participate in an Examination, which explains in detail the Relevant Representation stage process.