The latest bit of Manston Airport DCO, cpo news, see https://theisleofthanetnews.com/a-report-for-the-firm-hoping-to-reopen-manston-airport-as-a-cargo-hub-claims-it-will-create-30000-jobs-in-20-years/
et al, produced the usual flurry of posts on the likely Manston groups.
The source of this news is the press release from whatever
RiverOak is calling itself at the moment, here is the link http://www.rsp.co.uk/blog/post/riveroak-strategic-partners-plans-for-manston-set-to-create-almost-30-000-jobs-in-thanet
They seem to be saying that their plans to use CPO powers to
get the government to compulsorily purchase it from the current owners, who
want to put a mixed housing and light industrial development on the site will
employ 3,000 people in Thanet.
The current owners website is http://www.stonehillpark.co.uk/
The document this is based on the Azimuth report vol IV also
on the RiverOak website at https://static.secure.website/wscfus/10240501/5744273/manston-airport-a-national-and-regional-aviation-asset-volume-iv-the-social-and-economic-impacts-of-airport-operations.pdf
I think the key quote from this report is “Direct on-site
jobs are predicted to be 2,150 by year 5…”
As regular readers will know my main concern over the DCO is
that since Manston Airport closed science has moved the goalposts over
particulate pollution which is why the government is considering a diesel car
scrappage scheme.
Jet engine fuel is much worse than diesel fuel on the
particulate pollution front and the minimum requirement for the DCO would
appear to involve the premature deaths of at least. 2,000 Thanet people.
I put the following comment on various local FaceBook groups
(Save Manston Airport, Manston Pickle, We Love Ramsgate) where the news of the
employment figures had been posted: “I think the main problem with any freight
hub at Manston will be the recent discoveries about particulate pollution which
lead to the government looking at a diesel scrappage scheme. A 747 type freight
plane burns a tonne of fuel forr each ground movement and the viable threshold
for a freight hub seems to be 10,000 movements a year, which means 10,000
tonnes of jet fuel burnt upwind of Ramsgate and Broadstairs. All the up to date
information seems to be saying that this would reduce the life expectancy of
thousands of people in both towns, i.e kill them.”
To be honest I was expecting some sort of fuss about this
and probably to be removed from some of the groups. What actually happened is
that either people agreed with what I said or didn’t say I was wrong.
I went on to add the Los Angeles Airport particulate
pollution map with a comment along the lines of “37% increase in lung cancer
for every doubling of particulates and LA started out very polluted”
What I was hoping for was that some people would contest my
view that building an airfreight hub at Manston would kill at least 2,000 local
people.
The two local Conservative MPs appear to be right behind
burning 10,000 tonnes of jet fuel upwind of Ramsgate and Broadstairs every
year, perhaps they don’t follow local social media.
Next the links to a few hundred pictures I took of Northdown
Road in Cliftonville Margate in 2009, this is part of the work I am doing to
some of my older webpages that got messed up some time ago and I am now sorting
out and putting back on the www.
This is very much the pictures tell the story of the demise
of a major local shopping street,
On to Margate and Turner Contemporary where the main
galleries are closed because they are changing over exhibitions, of course if
you paint things from life the café there is always one of the best places to
do it from if the weather is being British.
OK, Michael. I enjoy your pictures. So in these circumstances it is only fair that I accede to your request for people to contest your views. OK, I contest! There that's one click.
ReplyDeleteMichael, Here is another click for you. I really do believe that Northdown Road is improving albeit very slightly. The desire is there, but the need is scant. I can remember it as a fine shopping road with the likes of Bobby's and more. I truly believe that Northdown Road can be restored to its former glory. Providing there is much more employment in our area generating money to spend in the shops. Now here's the rub. A Cargo Hub would do this. But you are fighting against that.
ReplyDeleteJohn this business of the particulate pollution and the effect of ground movements burning 10,000 tones of jet engine fuel predominantly upwind of Broadstairs is really a very new one, that has come up since the airport closed.
ReplyDeleteI have asked a fair amount of airport supporters I know what they make of it online and off, so far no one seems to have found any holes in my reasoning that it would kill several thousand local people.
I sort of get the feeling that there must be some error in my reasoning, it just seems to drastic, so please have a good look at the issue yourself and see if you can spot the flaw.
I think my stance on the airport is probably the best documented of any local, as you know it’s all published here, years of it.
My stance is that any local commercial or industrial activity should be environmentally compliant and that any harm done to local people in terms of environmental damage should be at least counterbalanced by the economic advantages.
At the moment my contention is roughly that the freight hub would kill about 800 Broadstairs residents, if your answer “click” was supposed to be a link to a counter argument, then the link failed to open.
On the Northdown Road front I think you are right and that there is a small but noticeable improvement from eight years ago, if I get a chance I will photograph it again.