Herne Bay people power

Congratulations to Herne Bay for a clear-cut response to the night flight proposals - "No thank you!".

If you have never heard of Peter Vickery-Jones, he is a Herne Bay councillor and holder of the Transport Portfolio for Canterbury City Council. In this article he complains that "Local activists have criticised this council for failing to respond to Manston's proposals". Unthinkable!

Anyone familiar with the process would know that CCC (themselves only a consultee) had committed themselves to assessing the responses from within the District before presenting their own response to TDC. Mind you, it would have been nice if the councillor had gone along to the KIACC meeting after the night flights proposal was published - as it was, Canterbury District wasn't represented.

Another opportunity we missed out on was Manston's consultation on flight paths and holding patterns - Canterbury Council were an official consultee, and got a nudging reminder email just before the end of the 14 week process. Unfortunately, it seems nobody cared enough about what happens in Canterbury's airspace to send in a response.

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Plans for night flights from Manston have been shot down by residents in Herne Bay who have rejected the proposal in a consultation organised by the city council. Around 230 people responded to the survey, the vast majority complaining about the potential for noise and disturbance and overstated economic benefits.

Now the city council has sent a formal objection to Thanet District Council after members of the executive agreed last week that the proposals by the airport operator Infratil were unacceptable. Cllr Peter Vickery-Jones told members:

"Local activists have criticised this council for failing to respond to Manston's proposals but this is the first opportunity we have had. It’s not our fault because we have had to await the results of our consultation. If night flights are not good for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, then why Manston?"

The executive agreed to support the continued role of Manston in the "economic well being" of east Kent but believed the adverse impact on residents of night flying was not justified.

HB Gazette 5th April 2012

At last, Herne Bay gets a mention

Herne Bay residents will be delighted that our Council has finally stirred itself. They will be looking at all the responses from the CCC area, collating them, and presenting Canterbury's considered opinion.

Hopefully, this will mean that the views of Herne Bay residents will, in effect, be presented twice - firstly in TDC's analysis of the responses, and secondly when reiterated by Canterbury.

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Council urges residents to give airport views

Canterbury City Council is urging local residents to have their say about proposals for regular night flights at Manston Airport. Thanet District Council has begun a month of consultation to find out people’s views on night flying at the airport, and with Herne Bay directly on the flight path, the city council is keen to ensure the town’s residents in particular give their comments. Executive member for transport, Cllr Peter Vickery-Jones, said:

“Thanet District Council has now changed its approach to this consultation. Previously it was planning to carry out a wide ranging consultation, including contacting thousands of homes directly to hear views. And we, as a city council, had paid some of the cost of this in order to ensure some Herne Bay properties were included. Now, it is just holding a standard consultation in which people are being given the opportunity to comment on the proposals.

I am urging everyone in Herne Bay in particular, and people across the rest of the district in general, to take part in this consultation and tell Thanet District Council what they think about the possibility of regular night flights at Manston. It is vital our residents take this opportunity to make their views known.”

The proposals by the airport’s owners Infratil, the results of assessments commissioned by Thanet District Council and details of how to get involved in the consultation are on Thanet's website. Comments should be submitted by Friday 2 March. Everyone taking part is required to give a name and address, including the post code. This is so particular attention can be paid to those people who live on the identified flight path and are directly affected by the proposal.

Cllr Vickery-Jones added:

“Once the deadline has passed, we have agreed with Thanet District Council that we will see all the comments from people with a Canterbury district post code. This will then enable us to formally write to Thanet, summarising the views of our residents and ensuring they take the feedback from our district into consideration.”

CCC website

Clown makes a serious point

An irate clown was in no mood for jokes when he arrived at Manston airport on Friday to highlight the "circus" over night-time flying. Sporting a wig, tartan suit and painted clown face, protester Malcolm Kirkaldie attended a meeting of the Kent International Airport Consultative Committee.

Mr Kirkaldie, a former committee member before he resigned in disgust this year, said Thanet council's failure to properly monitor night flights had made a mockery of the 106 agreement with New Zealand-based operators Infratil. He said:

"Given the recent events at the Airport Working Party and the admission of certain failures in the 106 agreement and monitoring, it has turned into a bit of a circus – so I thought how appropriate to dress up as a clown."

A main issue at the meeting was the airport's delay in submitting a revised policy on night flights to the council so it could go to public consultation. Claims by airport managing director Charles Buchanan that a new policy would be handed to the council "imminently and shortly" were greeted by laughter from members of the public in attendance. When Conservative Canterbury councillor Peter Vickery-Jones asked about the revised policy, Mr Buchanan said:

"It will be completed imminently, but I can't be specific. The report is still being finalised."

Committee chairman Paul Twyman said the airport was in need of a clearer timeline. He said:

"'Imminently' is as long as a piece of string. The consultation will take some time and Thanet District Council must take time to consider all views."

Council leader Bob Bayford, who sits on the committee as a representative of the council, said the 12-week consultation would be "wide-ranging and unbiased" but he attracted groans from the audience when he said the council was carrying out the consultation despite "not being under any obligation". At the end of the meeting most questions and remarks from the public concerned night flights.

Commenting on the usefulness of the gathering, a very serious Mr Kirkaldie said that it was "weak".