Problems with a machine used to monitor the noise created by Manston Airport has been blamed on a technical hitch. In July, the Isle of Thanet Gazette reported how members of the Kent International Airport Consultative Committee had been angry to find that a mobile noise monitoring system run by Thanet council had not been working for some months.
The group's chairman Paul Twyman said he intended to write to council leader Bob Bayford over the issue. The council revealed this week that the lack of monitoring was due to technical problems. A council spokesman said:
"There are ongoing problems with establishing communications with the kit to download the data. There are a number of options to try to resolve these problems and until each one has been tried by the council we cannot give a definitive time for it being fully operational. A problem was discovered during the last use of the monitor earlier this year. It was returned for calibration in June, when we identified the communications difficulties."
The airport carries out its own noise monitoring, which is taken from fixed positions nearby.