Thanet

Thanet district, the smallest in Kent, includes the towns of Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate, all rich in built heritage and benefiting from a gradual resurgence in tourism. The district must accommodate 6,500 new homes by 2026. While there is significant brownfield capacity in the district, recent greenfield building – such as the 1,000 houses at Westwood Cross – suggests there is a risk of further needless destruction of countryside over the coming decades.

Kent International Airport (Manston)
Quality of life in town and countryside are threatened by the unrestrained expansion of commercial jet aviation at Kent International Airport (KIA) at Manston. While aircraft have been taking off and landing there since 1915, the airport aspires to handling six million passengers per annum (mppa) in the future, a level of operation completely dwarfing anything the area has seen before.

The edge of Ramsgate is less than 1,500 metres from the runway at Manston, and the Victorian seaside town is directly in the landing flight path in prevailing weather conditions. Significant growth at Manston would make many people’s lives almost unbearable with aircraft noise (aircraft on approach to the runway have already caused structural damage to some buildings). Noise would also disrupt Herne Bay, Margate, Broadstairs, Sandwich and Canterbury, as well as eroding tranquillity in those areas of the North Downs where it still exists.

While growth would provide more employment at Manston, much of it would be highly specialised (pilots, engineers etc) who would probably come into the area from somewhere else. Jobs for locals would be in shorter supply. Noise from aircraft could also lead to loss of investment and existing jobs nearby. Airports create 400 (currently reducing towards 300) jobs per million passengers. At 6 mppa, Manston would lead to 1,800-2,400 jobs. How many, though, would be lost nearby, especially in Ramsgate, which relies on an appealing environment for its tourist trade?

CPRE Kent has consistently and strongly objected to the fact that development at Manston has taken place outside the planning system – the Section 106 used as a supposed control was shown to be completely inadequate when EUJet was operating there. The whole situation of planning with regard to Manston needs to be brought back under the remit of town planning law, and the full scrutiny of a proper public enquiry.

That inquiry should look, in part, at the current types of aviation making use of the airport. The weekend skies of Thanet have recently been blighted by a Hong-Kong-based Boeing 747 on training circuits, bringing high levels of noise pollution when the area needs to be at its most appealing to visitors. The vast majority of other aircraft using the runway are intercontinental fresh-produce freighters, mostly flying from Africa. The transport of fresh food and flowers by air is a profligate waste of irreplaceable natural resources; once which, moreover, undermines our own farming industry. CPRE Kent objects strongly to the use of Manston for freight operations.

We do not campaign for Manston to be shut down, but it must be realised that the airport, so close to the homes of so many people, has the power to make their lives miserable. For the sake of everyone in Thanet, strict controls must be placed on development.

Thames Estuary Airport 'Boris Island'

London Mayor, Boris Johnson, is determined that a new London airport should be built in the Thames Estuary between Sheppey and Essex.  This would replace Heathrow, and its controversial proposed third runway. Previous proposals for airports in this area (Cliffe and Maplin Sands) have failed, largely due to the sensitivity of the European-designated habitats and the high risk of bird-strike. KCC argue that there is no need for it when there is capacity and development potential at Manston Airport, Thanet.

Attachments:

District Issues

• Tomorrow's Kent
• China Gateway