Planning permission for Manston

Manston airport sale "a chance to introduce proper planning"

News that Manston airport is up for sale is confirmation that the local infrastructure is not sufficient to sustain an airport, according to one of the most respected campaign group in the country.

Manston’s New Zealand owner, lnfratil, announced it was selling the site because it wanted to “refocus its investment profile" and concentrate on retail, production and supplying gas and electricity. The move puts 123 jobs at risk.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England says the sale is an ideal chance for Thanet council to put into force planning regulations protecting the interests of residents

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CPRE response to the public consultation

I've got a lot of time for the CPRE, and in particular our local branch - Protect Kent. They've got their heads screwed on, and their hearts are in the right place.

I joined them, and I encourage you to join them too. Your membership fees pay for their expert staff to do things like producing the response below. Read and enjoy... then join up!

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CPRE aren't impressed

Night flights at Manston have been an extremely contentious issue for many Thanet residents. Some believe that allowing the flights will bring economic prosperity to the area, with much needed local employment opportunities. Others believe that it is unlikely that many jobs will be created.

We took the stance some time ago that we did not believe allowing night flights would bring any real economic benefit to the residents of Thanet, and may in fact bring real harm to the area due to the impacts of noise and air pollution.

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Report highlights night flights hype

Nights flights will not be the salvation of Manston airport, according to campaigners who say that a report from a leading transport consultancy backs their views.

Community groups say they do not believe allowing the flights would bring any economic benefit to the residents of Thanet, and may in fact bring harm to the area due to the impact of noise and air pollution.

Many also say that if the proposed operations went ahead, they could actually deter people who might be planning to move their businesses to the area or thinking of buying a home there.

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Doing battle with a naked Emperor

Medway Council are ready for battle. CPRE Protect Kent are ready to grab the opportunity to point out that the Emperors of Aviation are naked, and (quite brilliantly) want to inject a little democracy into the process. Best of luck guys.

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Cllr Rodney ChambersA fierce opponent of a Thames Estuary airport has vowed to fight all the way to the top as controversial plans take a step forward. Medway Council leader Cllr Rodney Chambers wants to work with the Towns' MPs to secure a crisis meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron or Chancellor George Osborne. Mr Cameron was set to announce preliminary backing for a huge airport potentially off the Kent coast - which would dwarf the size of Heathrow - earlier this month, according to a national newspaper.

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CPRE says night flights at Manston will not boost business

The campaign group says night flights could actually damage Thanet’s economic growth. Protect Kent, the Campaign to Protect Rural England’s county branch, says there is little evidence that night flights at Manston Airport will significantly help the local economy. Campaigns manager Andrew Ogden said:

“The fact that Flybe are pulling out in March because they cannot fill planes is damning proof of the lack of demand for flights out of Manston.

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Urgent need for environmental assessment

I subscribe to your Newsletter which I find very informative. I would like to raise some questions about what involvement the Environment Agency (EA) have in these developments.

In my view, based upon past experience with Industrial Planning issues, the EA should be involved. Indeed I think they should be involved as part of all the planning issues and meetings. There are far too many environmental issues at stake for them not to be actively involved

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Support from CPRE Protect Kent

Thanet District Committee

Matters have not been all quiet on the eastern front. A number of issues have surfaced — or re-surfaced — within the District. The most significant is the proposal for night-flights from Kent International Airport, Manston.

This is a subject which has featured for some time as a dark storm cloud over Thanet, ominous and threatening but never quite ready to release its anger. It now appears that the storm is about to break.

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That KIACC meeting, in a nutshell

For those of you who had better things to do on Friday evening, you can find out what you missed here:

Ramsgate Rat merrily blogging away for the last year or so on all things Ramsgatey and ratty, has produced a very readable write-up of the evenings jollities, and local newshound Andrew Woodman who was scampering about with a digital doo-dah and has captured the best moments on video, and put them on video-sharing website Bambuser.

One of the many important points that arose, that I would like you all to think about, was the question of representation on the KIACC committee. There's plenty of councillors (I mean LOTS of councillors), and there's the airport. Not much in the way of people (i.e. residents) or independent experts. This has to change.

For people/residents, I think a representative from NoNightFlights would provide some much-needed balance to the blanket pro-airport stance of some councillors.

For independence and expertise, I think the obvious option is CPRE Protect Kent. They know their onions, and they're not anti-airport (so no objection from Manston), but they are anti-night flight (hurrah).

The constitution of the KIACC committee is under review, so now is the time for all good men and women to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboards) and contact KIACC at this address:

secretary.manstonkiacc@talktalk.net

to nominate some new faces on the committee. If you don't make any suggestions, we'll be stuck forever with what we had on Friday... The decision is yours!

CPRE Protect Kent

The Campaign to Protect Rural England - a bit of a mouthful, but it does what it says on the tin. Their mission is "to protect our natural landscapes from destruction and degradation".

Protect Kent - sounds pleasingly more like a battle-cry, and they're our local bit of the CPRE. Their mission statement begins:

Protect Kent seeks to ensure the survival of our County’s landscapes and heritage, and aims to protect the County from inappropriate developments wherever they may occur.

My kind of people! They are busy the length and breadth of Kent, battling the selfish and the senseless, for the greater good. Construction of superstores, destruction of woodlands, the Lower Thames Crossing and the Operation Stack Lorry Park - you get the picture. Of particular interest to us is their recent heroic performance at the Lydd enquiry:

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Noise map of Kent

click it to big itDear reader, those nice people at the CPRE have produced some maps that are both pretty and informative. They show the distribution of "Tranquility" across our fine nation, and come with an explanation of how the CPRE assess tranquility.

Looking at the map of Kent (click it to big it) the cities and towns are easy to spot, as is the M20 running through Ashford to Folkestone, and the roads radiating out from Canterbury.

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YES WE CAN: monitor

Yes we can: the story so far… Infratil need Manston to be very busy; night flights are a bad thing; and the daytime flight paths must be designed to be as people-friendly as possible. So what happens next? Step aboard the time machine of your imagination, and gracefully swoop into the future…

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No case for night flights

Something of the night

They must be bats, wanting to fly in the dark. Not in the squeaky, blood-sucking sense. Just a bit nutso. Re-tune your ears and minds to human frequencies and I'll explain...

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Airport growth 'flight of fancy'

Green campaigners have said plans to expand a Kent airport to handle up to six million passengers a year by 2033 are "flights of fancy". Kent Green Party has delivered a critical submission in response to Kent International Airport's plans. The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has also said the plans, revealed on 8 October, are unrealistic.

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Council promises 'hard negotiations' with airport

A three month consultation has thrown up a range of concerns from residents in Thanet, Sturry and Herne Bay, that will be discussed with Manston airport owners, PlaneStation. Inappropriate penalties, inadequate noise monitoring, off-route aircraft, and concern that cargo flights may increase, were among the worries voiced. Council leader Cllr Sandy Ezekiel pledged that the local authority would "go into hard negotiations" with the airport owners over a revised Section 106 environmental agreement that will update the original five-year-old voluntary agreement that he described as "rather woolly".

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