KEITH TAYLOR Green Party for the South East of England

Consultation Thanet District Council PO Box 9 Margate CT9 1XZ

2nd March 2012 To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to raise my objections to the proposed introduction of scheduled nighttime flights from Manston Airport. I am against all scheduled flights from Manston Airport between 11pm and 7am for a number of reasons: The Economic Case: I believe that Manston Airport has grossly overstated the economic case for night flights. Their predictions for the future growth of the airport, and the benefits this will provide to the local community, are based on questionable or flawed claims, as pointed out by various independent reports and assessments (including the report from Parsons Brinckerhoff commissioned by Thanet council).

Firstly, Manston Airports economic assessment fails to account for the current economic downturn and so overestimates the potential for growth over the next few years. It also overstates the likelihood of attracting based carriers for freight or passengers, which is a key part of its economic viability. Manston Airports geographic position means it is unlikely to attract significant passenger numbers or to act as a freight hub for the UK as a whole, and is very poorly located for serving the South East region. In addition the entire economic assessment presented by the airport is based on opaque figures, using future passenger and freight projections of uncertain origin to calculate the financial loss of not having night flights. As a result the claim that restricting night flights is curtailing the airports otherwise inevitable expansion is disingenuous.
There is a similar flaw with the job creation claims made by the airport, for which the figures used are widely disputed and fail to stand up to scrutiny. Evidence from independent reports, as well as from similar airports in the UK, suggests that the number of jobs created from an increase in flights is far lower than Manston Airport claims. In fact, Manston Airport is currently operating at below capacity and losing both money and jobs. Even if it were to be argued that further flights were necessary, there would appear to be room for significant improvements in current operations, such as making better use of daytime capacity, before resorting to night flights. Air Pollution, Noise and Quality of Life: Not only are the benefits of this proposal exaggerated, but insufficient attention is shown towards the numerous inconveniences caused by night flights. These include the harms caused by noise pollution, including sleep deprivation and other associated health risks, which were glossed over in the noise report submitted by the airport. An independent assessment by Buenas Veritas confirms that more stringent noise restrictions should be considered, given the potential harm that noise can cause.

Office of the Green MEPs, CAN Mezzanine, 49-51 East Road, London N1 6AH phone: 0207250 8415 e-mail: keithtaylor@greenmeps.org.uk website: www.keithtaylormep.org.uk twitter: @GreenKeithMEP

Noise also has economic ramifications and it is unclear whether the noise mitigation schemes proposed to combat the problem were included in the economic assessment. Noise can also seriously reduce house prices in the area, another issue that has not been adequately addressed or explored. As well as the direct harm from noise pollution caused by aeroplanes flying overhead, there would be numerous knock-on effects from increasing the size of Manston Airport and the volume of passenger and freight traffic. For example the need for more vehicles to move staff, passengers and freight to and from the airport would have an adverse effect on local roads causing congestion as well as air pollution. In particular a large number of heavy goods vehicles would be necessary if Manston Airport were to become a freight hub. I believe that these wider implications on the local residents quality of life clearly indicate that the disturbances that night flights would cause outweigh the claimed benefits. Climate Change: Not only would night flights have a considerable impact on the local environment and quality of life, but any increase in aviation makes it less likely that the UK will meet its binding emission targets. The Committee on Climate Change 2009 report on aviation indicated that even if we were to bring aviations rising emissions back down to 2005 levels by 2050, then aviation would still make up 23% of the UKs total emissions budget. In addition to this the latest science suggests that if non-CO2 impacts of aviation such as Nitrogen Oxides and water vapour are taken into account this could double our estimate of aviations climate damage. It therefore becomes clear that meeting our emissions obligations simply isnt compatible with an increase in flights. An Alternative Vision: I believe that the long-term goal of turning Manston into a far larger airport over the next few years is a mistake. It not only fails to solve any of the areas problems but would also create many new problems. As well as being inconsistent with any rational climate change policy, locally or nationally, it does not address the underlying reasons why Manston airport consistently fails to be a viable hub for the South East and distracts further from serious and sustainable regeneration and job creation in Thanet. For the airport to use questionable figures to promise jobs (and the implicit threat of unemployment) to persuade the local community to accept the many problems that night flights will bring is especially pernicious in the current economic climate. There is a history of airports promising jobs which they then fail to deliver, and Manston Airports case for job creation does not inspire me with confidence.

While I welcome development and job-creation in the South East generally and in Thanet particularly, this development offers only uncertain employment potential based on speculative assumptions. I do not believe residents should have to settle for an unsustainable development which will negatively affect their quality of life. The site itself, for example, could be converted into an allweather leisure centre, which would promote domestic tourism and create genuinely sustainable local jobs. There is plenty of scope for an alternative vision of the future in Thanet, based around sectors such as leisure, agriculture and green energy, something I hope the Council will lead the way in promoting. For all of the reasons given above I would therefore urge you to maintain the current restrictions on scheduled night time flying at Manston Airport.
Kind regards,

Keith Taylor - Green Party MEP, South East England.

Office of the Green MEPs, CAN Mezzanine, 49-51 East Road, London N1 6AH phone: 0207250 8415 e-mail: keithtaylor@greenmeps.org.uk website: www.keithtaylormep.org.uk twitter: @GreenKeithMEP