#Manston #nightflights
I am opposed to night flights at Manston between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Although in Cliftonville I apparently live miles from the flight path and its noise, I have over the past few months on several occasions been disturbed by the noise of flights between 1 and 2 a.m. It is clearly a fallacy that only people under the flight path suffer. Noise travels, particularly when its origin is in the air and it does not encounter obstacles, and its effect is magnified particularly at night when it is not disguised by normal daytime sounds.
Manston will never generate significant numbers of jobs, but could easily have a detrimental effect on the sleep, physical and mental health of thousands, or possibly tens of thousands of people. Members of any society have a moral duty to be caring about those who may be more sensitive and less robust than others, all the more so when any advantage in not doing so is minimal.
I have no major objections to daytime flights, although personally I believe that with continuing rising fuel costs seeming inevitable as China, India and other former 3rd world countries become more prosperous and need more fuel and raw materials, and with prosperity in Europe gradually declining, in the new world of the future Manston will soon be an anachronistic white elephant, if it is not so already. It seems wrong-headed and wilfully short-sighted to maintain it at any cost and not to have the foresight to see and accept what is inevitable.
Click to have your say in the Public Consultation on Night Flights
In accordance with your consultation period, regarding the proposed night flights at Manston, I wish to state my opposition.
The reasons for my opposition a pretty straight forward, in as much as night flights will cause maximum disruption for minimum benefit to the wider community.
If Manston is not economically viable without night flights, all that will happen is a delay of the inevitable, because night flights will not cure this problem.
What it will do though is cause anyone in the flight path considerable disruption to sleep patterns, and therefore having a negative effect to the local economy through absences caused by a lack of sleep.
If Manston were serious about being responsible they would change the flight path to a less densely populated area (proven many times to be entirely possible), and ensure that the freight planes were modern, and less likely to cause noise pollution, but it is obvious they have no intention to look at common sense, so I see no reason why the residents in the flight path should suffer as a result.
The key argument is economic benefit, but anyone with half an ounce of business sense knows this will not happen. The jobs created at the airport itself will be minimal (30 minimum wage positions maximum), and therefore the argument is entirely reliant on parallel economies.
To once again consider basic business sense, the freight they are targeting is commodity/product based, and the only business that utilises such services is small order, time sensitive operations, because the cost of air freight is prohibitive in comparison to sea based shipments. What this means is that it will only serve small business, and to believe that parallel economies will be developed in the area as a result is farcical. To be clear, it will not attract any substantial businesses to the area, so all of the guff about job creation is simply an absolute nonsense.
It should also be considered that solving the problems of Heathrow will not see Manston form part of the solution, so when this matter is resolved (whether additional runways at existing airports, or my personally favoured 'Boris Island'), any purported advantages for night flights will simply fade away. This means Manston is a short term business, that will fail and disappear in the long term, so why put up with short term inconvenience for a doomed business.
Here's something else to consider; TDC doesn't exactly have a good record in deciding how the area can be economically regenerated (Westwood being a prime example), so take the advice of people who understand business better than yourselves, and don't waste our time with another flawed proposal.
Click to have your say in the Public Consultation on Night Flights
To Whom it may concern,
I am AGAINST the proposal for night flights between 11.00pm & 7.00am@ Manston Airport.
We are already disturbed by aircraft that fly directly over Ivanhoe Road, at a height where we can see the individual rivets; and the noise is atrocious!
During the day time we are usually downstairs, and this is intrusive enough; but on the first floor the noise is even worse!
Obviously this would directly impede on our quality of life & our right to undisturbed sleep; this is surely contrary to current noise abatement laws.
Click to have your say in the Public Consultation on Night Flights