Gale's View on night flights (Oct 2010)

Turncoat

Ten days before the May 2010 general election, Roger Gale wrote "I have never supported night flights from Manston and do not propose to do so." Click here to see for yourself. Six months later, he writes this...

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More from the rumour mill...

Our diligent spies never rest and never sleep, even without night flights.

The latest news is that the gaggle of Kiwis visiting Thanet will be meeting our dazzling local MPs Roger Gale and Laura Sandys. As we all know from recent posts here, both MPs have publicly declared their opposition to night flights...

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Public consultation: the next steps

Thanet District Council say:

The council will be carrying out a full twelve week public consultation to gather the views of as many local people as possible in the next couple of months. This will be facilitated on behalf of the council by Ipsos MORI. Please could I encourage you to take part in this process once it begins.

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Infratil top brass come to Kent

Kiwis fly in

All along the flight path, the whispered words are spreading like wildfire: the bigwigs of a company on the other side of the world are coming to Kent on Monday. I'm thrilled at the prospect of these well-travelled, high-spending visitors plastering shop counters with their New Zealand dollars, but I can't help wondering why exactly they're coming, and why now?

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Clear boundaries

Breaking News - Council are not "in cahoots" with Manston Airport

I can't understand what would make people think such a thing! Behold the front Page of
"Around Kent, A magazine for the people of Kent. Your voice, Your services."

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Herne Bay is 'the fall guy' for night flights

Clipping: thisiskent

HERNE Bay will be getting the worst of the night-flights deal being thrashed out at Manston, campaigners have warned. Kent International Airport owner Infratil is asking Thanet District Council to overturn the ban on regular night flying and let up to six cargo planes a night flying directly over Herne Bay. Manston claims development of passenger services will be possible only if the existing freight business is successful. And, to attract more freight, it must be able to schedule planes to land and take off at night.

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Public set to be asked for views on night flights from Manston airport

Bob Bayford

Clipping: thisiskent

THE public will be asked for their views on plans for regular night flights from Manston airport from 1st November. On Tuesday, Thanet council's chief executive Richard Samuel said its consultation on an application from airport owners Infratil for scheduled flights between 11pm and 6am will last approximately 12 weeks. Infratil submitted its proposals to Thanet council, the planning authority, last week. Part of its application is an assessment of the noise impact of its plans on surrounding towns and villages. Thanet council will have those claims independently reviewed before it launches its public consultation.

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Sleepless in Ramsgate

Clipping: yourthanet

People living under or near the flightpath of Manston airport could have their sleep shattered up to seven times a night if Thanet council supports plans from operator Infratil. The company’s application for a night-time flying policy has gone in to the local authority – and it wants as many as seven aircraft a night to fly in to the airport between 11.30pm and 6am – a period being labelled the ‘Night Time Quota Period’. Up to 1,995 planes could fly in at night during the year, which has been set as an annual limit.

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Calling All Whistleblowers

If TDC decide to give Infratil the night flights they've asked for, it'll have a significant impact on the everyday lives of all of us under the flight path. The elected representatives taking that decision should be as transparent as possible about the factors they are taking into account.

Some of you have already offered us interesting and valuable insider insights into what's really going on - keep 'em coming! If you think you know something about Infratil's or TDC's plans that the wider public should know, tell us at NoNightFlights@gmail.com. We respect our sources' request to keep names confidential.

Alternatively, share what you know with the statutory consultative body responsible for issues between the airport and the community, KIACC.

Questions, questions

The current owners of Manston Airport want to change the rules that govern night flights. This is a major change in the way the airport is used, so Thanet District Council will be launching a public consultation. Both TDC and Infratil (the airport owners) will probably be doing their best to engineer a "yes" result. Smoke and mirrors, misinformation and partial truths will all play their part.

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Night flying proposal 2010

So here it is...

Infratil have finally, after 13 months of waiting, given us a figure on the flights they expect to operate at night. To summarise:

• They wish to extend unrestricted operational hours from 0700-2300 to 0600-2330
• Between 2330-0600 they now wish to operate scheduled aircraft which were not allowed under the previous agreement...

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Night flights: Herne Bay gets screwed

If you have dodgy blood pressure, or "anger management issues" it's probably a good idea not to read any further.

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BAP report on Night Flights

At long last we're getting a clearer picture of what Infratil wants to do with our sky, and it doesn't make pretty reading: a 25-fold increase in night flights, and some sly counting to make it look less. The owners of Manton airport first started asking for more night flights at the beginning of 2009, during the BAWC débâcle. At the time, they claimed it was not just pressing, but urgent. Some 20 months have passed, during which they submitted another request, which was useless as it was missing key bits of information like... er... how many night flights, and how much noise.

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Warning to TDC and Infratil over Manston

Thanet District Council and Infratil, the owners of Manston Airport, have been warned they could end up in the High Court if the night-flights consultation process is botched. The warning has come from Paul Twyman, the chairman of airport watchdog the Kent International Airport Consultative Committee (KIACC).

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nightflight-nightmare

Listen up, good people: your Quality of Life is at stake. Scheduled night flights would be a nightmare - you can help stop them before they start.

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Manston: healthy and safe?

Brian Urwin (of the Ramsgate Alliance) spells it out, and tells the world. Public safety zones, fuel dumps, fireworks factory, flaky airlines, bird strike, radar interference from the windfarm, and NOISE... all this and more points to Manston not being particularly healthy or safe.

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Who knows how noisy

A mobile noise monitor designed to record the volume of flights from Manston airport is still out of action. The machine, which can be taken to different locations across Thanet, is the only one that can be moved from set locations to monitor the level of disturbance made by planes. However, it is lying unused because there are problems with data collection and taking the information from it. Thanet council could not say, or declined to say, exactly how long it had been out of use. A spokeswoman would only say it had not been in use “since early this year”.

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New boss says airport can boost Thanet

Charles Buchanan

Clipping: thisiskent

THE new chief executive of Manston airport has underlined the part he believes it can play in regenerating Thanet. As revealed in last week's Isle of Thanet Gazette, Charles Buchanan took up the job on July 1. He was strategy and communications director at London City Airport, and has also held posts with Eurotunnel.

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Manston as seen from afar

Manston needs much more than a transfusion if it is to succeed - being transplanted to somewhere with a large and well-populated catchment area might just do the trick.

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Jobs created at Manston for Flybe flights

The new Flybe daily passenger service from Manston to Edinburgh has helped to create 20 new jobs at Kent International Airport. Airport owners Infratil say all the new recruits all live locally. Their task will be to ensure the passengers of Flybe, Newmarket Holidays and CI Travel which operates charter flights and holidays to Jersey, "have the best possible experience when passing through the airport", says the company.

The new members of staff will be responsible for check-in and customer service, as well as sales and marketing, operating the shop and the security of the airport. Manston now employs 112 staff to manage the airport's passenger and freight operations, including the new recruits who have just completed their training.

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