You say (16)
I am strongly against Manston’s night flying proposal.
Flybe cannot make Manston work for them others have tried and failed.
The catchment area for Manston is just not large enough for this ever to work for passenger flights.
All that is left is old aircraft bringing in cargo. Please don't spoil what we have now, a great town on the up.
Click to have your say in the Public Consultation on Night Flights
Dear Sirs,
I would like to let you know that I am strongly opposed against any night flights in Manston airport between 11pm and 7am.
Already in its present form the airport is a considerable source of unnecessary noise and environmental pollution. Should the proposed plans go ahead, my life – and those of thousands of other people – will be even more affected by noise disturbance, leading to increased levels of stress and illnesses. I don’t think that the perceived economical benefits (even if they should materialise, which is by no means certain) would justify these inevitable consequences.
I am aware that in recent decades it has become fashionable to think of life in purely economical terms. But maybe it’s time for a change – maybe we should start thinking of people again?
Click to have your say in the Public Consultation on Night Flights
OBJECTION TO THE MANSTON NIGHT FLIGHT EXPANSION PROPOSAL:
We understand that the proposal for the expansion of Manston Airport by introducing Night Flights are being considered by yourselves and we want to make our views very clear as residents and home owners living close by the airport and the effects that any such expansion is likely to have on us.
The findings of the TDC's report are clear:
- The expansion proposal (by the operators) indicates that the economic benefits that had been suggested in the original proposal have been very much over exaggerated.
- It has also clearly understated the noise nuisance impact on local residents made even worse as a result of the night activity.
- It is also clear that the suggested increase in job prospects for local people has been very much exaggerated . No guarantees in this regard have been given. Look at the current staffing of the existing airport activities and the number of employees overall and of the number of current staff that live in the area.
- The potential detrimental effects on local residents health have been very much understated.
Compare the proposal for Manston to those that exist for Heathrow. The proposal is for some 600 night flights a year for Manston against just 15 a year which is currently allowed at Heathrow. In addition the Manston proposal wants to reduce the recognised "night time" period by one and a half hours each night. With no restrictions on the number of flights from Manston outside of the proposed new "night time" and therefore it could well mean that there would in fact be many more night flights than the proposed 600.
In reality Manston has plenty of spare capacity in the daytime and it must be pure commonsense to all those involved in the decision process that any expansion proposals should be made to utilise this spare capacity before giving any consideration to this Night Time expansion proposal.
Click to have your say in the Public Consultation on Night Flights
Reader Comments (6)
Any other ideas on some hard hitting action very welcome!!!
As things stand, the protest is still focussed on the democratic route, i.e. if enough people submit their objections, Councillors should listen and should then fight the proposal on our behalf. Unfortunately, experience tells us that Councillors frequently take no notice whatsoever of local residents and vote according to the narrow interests of their respective parties. Councillors have spent so long sucking up to Infratil that I'm far from convinced they have ability to fight this proposal.
Nevertheless, Clive Hart said that his Labour group would fight it and that is exactly what we should hold them to. The Tories are a dead loss so I wouldn't expect any help from them. Laura Sandys makes lots of positive noises but what has she actually done? If the democratic route fails this is a cert for Judicial Review. Unfortunately, it wil be TDC in the dock, so it will be local residents fighting a case against their own Council whose case will be funded by... local residents. Hopefully, Councillors will see how stupid this would be and will opt instead to spend the money fighting Infratil, a case which they are far more likely to win.
It's now up to the residents to take a more direct and visible approach against this disgusting proposal.