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Herne Bay, England, CT6
United Kingdom
Community website for all things Herne Bay (Kent, UK). Covers: The Downs, Herne Bay Museum, Herne Bay Historical Records Society, Herne Bay Pier Trust, Herne Bay in Bloom, East Cliff Neighbourhood Panel, No Night Flights, Manston Airport, Save Hillborough, Kitewood, WEA, Local Plan and much, much more...
Filtering by Category: Night flights
Meeting at St Lawrence Community Centre (opposite Budgens) starting at 7pm, Friday 1st December.
Some of the No Night Flights group will be doing a short presentation and answering your questions.
No Night Flights home page
No Night Flights home page
Just when you thought the world was going to Hell in a handcart, here's an excellent four minutes' worth of 24 carat common sense, out loud, and in public. Enjoy.
This is from the recent KIACC meeting. If you want to see and hear more good stuff like this, come to the No Night Flights meeting on Friday 25th November, at 7pm in Chatham House School in Chatham Street, Ramsgate.
No Night Flights home page
Firstly, we apologise for being unable to attend the meeting on Friday 25th.
We live in Beltinge and have noticed the increased air traffic on their landing approach to Manston. We do not appreciate being woken in the middle of the night or agree with the airport manager's estimate of how many local people will find employment at Manston with night flights.
Good luck with your campaign.
Regards J&J
No Night Flights home page
The No Night Flights campaign group are kick-starting the public consultation on Manston's night flight proposals by organising a series of public meetings.
The first will be at Chatham House School hall between 7pm and 9pm on the evening of Friday 25th November.
There will be more meetings later. If you would like one of the meetings to be in your neighbourhood, just drop us a line. If you can provide a hall or meeting room full of people with questions, we'll bring some people with answers.
Come along on the 25th to find out what Manston's night flight proposals will mean for your neighbourhood, and to find out how you can help the campaign against night flights.
Bring a friend, bring a neighbour, but best of all bring your ideas and suggestions.
No Night Flights home page
The new night flights proposal from Manston contains just two rules that matter: how many planes, and how noisy. What will happen when Manston breaks the rules?
Absolutely nothing.
Manston has removed all the penalty clauses from their proposal.
In the autumn of 2010 when Manston came out with a proposal that even TDC (They Don't Care) couldn't take seriously, it contained the following puny penalties:
This was, of course, a significant watering down of the penalties in the laughably inadequate S106 agreement, which doubled the fine for each repeat offence. And we know that only a tiny percentage of the flights that caused annoyance and distress to the (voting, Council Tax-paying) public ever attracted a fine.
However, in the glorious new future that Manston has planned for us, there will be no fines and no penalties. There will be no incentive for them to abide by any rules. There will be no point in TDC bothering to monitor them - not that they do much of that at the moment.
We will have to hope that the airport that is happy to stick two fingers up to the American government will be good and considerate neighbours.
We will have to trust them to regulate themselves responsibly.
Come to the public meeting on November 25th and tell us what you think.
No Night Flights home page
No Night Flights home page
Airport owners have been accused of trying to "pull a fast one" after revealing new plans for night flights over Herne Bay. Controversy has boiled for the past two years over the policy, with Manston Airport owners Infratil keen to boost the number of night flights at the Thanet airport.
Under the current agreement the airport is not allowed any scheduled flights between 11pm and 7am. But in a new revised proposal submitted on Friday, Infratil says it will limit any flights between 11.30pm and 6am to less than two a night and will comply with a strict noise quota.
But the policy leaves them free to fly as many planes as they want - unrestricted by noise limits - between 11pm and 11.30pm and 6am and 7am. Phil Rose, who runs the website HerneBayMatters and has fiercely campaigned against the night flights, said:
"The airport owners are trying to pull a fast one. They are proposing to place an upper limit on the total amount of noise nuisance from planes, but they'll only be measuring the noise between 11.30pm and 6am. Who are they trying to kid?"
Airport chiefs have forecast an average 6.4 flights between 11pm and 11.30pm and 6am and 7am, but just 1.8 between 11.30pm and 6am. Mr Rose said:
"They call this less than two flights a night, but it's actually more than one an hour throughout the night. You also have to bear in mind that these are average numbers - when there are no planes one night, there'll probably be 16 the next night. So an 'average' night could be a Boeing 747-400 cargo plane landing, or taking off, at 11.05pm, 11.15pm, 11.25pm, 1.55am, 3.40am, 6.05am, 6.25am and 6.55am - and they're presenting that as a couple of flights a night."
Planes landing at Manston fly straight over Herne Bay if there is an easterly wind and skim Reculver when they take off into a westerly wind. Mr Rose said:
"Sometimes, like last summer, we can have several weeks of non-stop easterly winds. So the people of Herne Bay can look forward to sleepless nights from noise pollution, ill health from the resulting stress, ill health from the air pollution from cargo planes and HGVs, and the rapid destruction of our tourist industry."
Rejection "could threaten airport"
Manston boss Charles Buchanan says allowing night flights would create 3,000 jobs by 2018 and is vital for the long-term future of the airport. He said:
"For the airport to be commercially viable in the longer term and deliver for Kent what other airports have done for their regions, it is vital that we are allowed to compete in terms of the operating hours."
The submission also includes a Night Noise Assessment Report after previous plans sparked fears about noise. Mr Buchanan said:
"Rejecting the submission by prohibiting all commercial traffic between 11pm and 7am would severely hinder the airport's ability to attract passenger and freight airlines. It would cost the local economy an estimated £30 million per year and some 1,450 jobs at a time when the area needs them more than ever. It could even threaten the continuation of the airport as a viable business."
The plans will go out to public consultation after Thanet council has had an independent assessment carried out.
HB Gazette 3rd Nov 2011 joewalker@thekmgroup.co.uk
No Night Flights home page
Thanet District Committee
Matters have not been all quiet on the eastern front. A number of issues have surfaced — or re-surfaced — within the District. The most significant is the proposal for night-flights from Kent International Airport, Manston.
This is a subject which has featured for some time as a dark storm cloud over Thanet, ominous and threatening but never quite ready to release its anger. It now appears that the storm is about to break.
We have engaged with the Kent International Airport Consultative Committee (KIACC) to challenge Infratil, the airport's owners, and Thanet District Council (Thanet DC) on the need for night-flights, and more importantly how permission for such activities is being determined.
We consider that due process is being circumvented, including full and open consultation with the residents of Thanet. Together with KIACC and other active parties we will be examining the legality of present and past planning decisions relating to Manston, and encouraging frank and open discussion on the planned future of the airport.
We believe we can bring considerable expertise to the scene, based on our experience at the Lydd Inquiry.
Andrew Ogden
Campaigns Manager
CPRE Protect Kent
Newsletter Autumn 2011
These people care about the things that you care about, and they have the clout and expertise to make a difference. They have the clout and expertise because they have full-time staff who have built up years of experience successfully doing the things we're trying to do.
These nice people need to eat, and buy clothes, and pay their phone bills. They need money. Your money. My money. Any money will do. This is where membership of Protect Kent comes in. Click HERE, now, to pop over to their website, where you can get whatever kind of membership suits you best - joint, family, concessionary, under 25, whatever.
Take your pick, and then press the magic buttons to make it happen. You'll get automatic membership of the national CPRE, and you'll get half-price entry to lots of nice places, and you'll get occasional magazines and other good stuff, but most importantly you'll get that nice warm feeling that comes from knowing you've done the right thing for the right reason.
No Night Flights home page
For myself, I think the idea of a "whipped" vote (when members are formally ordered to toe the party line) is an affront to democracy. Each councillor's first duty is to the residents of their ward, and if that conflicts with party policy, then the residents' interests should win every time.
That said, there is no practical way of telling whether a vote has been informally whipped, with the usual mix of sticks and carrots. And there's always (thankfully) some bloody-minded/ruggedly independent individuals who simply won't do what they're told.
Finally, I do wish politicians wouldn't say things like "People will have to trust us" - it's guaranteed to raise both chuckles and hackles.
Thanet Labour leader Clive Hart has denied a U-turn on his party's pre-election anti night-flight pledge.
Manston airport's owner Infratil has revealed plans for up to eight movements a night, in an application submitted to Thanet council last week. That will kick-start 12 weeks of public consultation on the proposals, which if approved would overturn the current ban on scheduled aircraft landing or taking off after 11pm or before 7am.
In the run up to May's local elections the district's Labour party said that it would unanimously oppose night flights from Manston. After the election, which left Thanet council hung, Labour claimed that its no to night flights policy had helped swing the vote in the Nethercourt area of Ramsgate, which lies under one of the airport's flight paths.
This week, in a statement responding to Infratil's submission, Mr Hart said his members will be giving their own views during the consultation. He said:
"Over the coming weeks and months members of the Labour group will scrutinise the proposed night-flying document carefully and thoroughly. Our district councillors will then make their individual views known at the appropriate points in the process, having taken account of all the information available."
The Conservatives already guaranteed an "unwhipped" free vote for their group members.
The latest night flight policy proposal was submitted to Thanet council by Infratil last Thursday. The proposal's include an aircraft noise assessment report and an economic assessment explaining the implications of the proposal. This application follows on from previous proposals for night-time flying which were submitted to the council by the airport in September 2010. Mr Hart has denied that the party's most recent statement is at odds with their original campaign pledge. He said:
"It would be foolish to say anything about it when we could be barred from speaking on any possible future planing [sic] application, and that is the situation we are in. We haven't gone back on any of our pledges. People can think what they like, for me to say anything else won't do anybody any favours. I would bar myself from taking part in the debate. People will have to trust us."
Council leader Bob Bayford said:
"I definitely think that a free vote is the right way to go, which is what our policy has always been. I am not sure how people, who voted Labour on the pledge that they will be against night flights, will feel about Labour's recent statement."
The council will now seek an independent assessment of the proposals and technical reports by an external company before public consultation on the proposal can begin. Mr Bayford said:
"We know this is a hugely important issue, especially for those living under the flight path, so will be providing a minimum consultation period of 12 weeks for people to have their say. I'd like to encourage everyone with a view to ensure they take the time to participate."
The latest proposal details plans for an average of eight scheduled flights a night. Scheduled night flight are currently prohibited under the airport's agreement with the council. A start date for a full consultation will be announced when an independent report is completed.
Paul Twyman, the independent chairman of the Kent International Airport Consultative Committee, said the committee was in favour of the development of the airport, subject to satisfactory environmental controls. He added:
"The key issue is whether the proposals put to the council take proper account of the effect on the environment, and how that balances with the employment and other economic benefits. It is important that the public consultation takes place with plenty of information in the public domain, and that we all have ample time to consider what is proposed. I am in the hands of the committee, but I am pretty sure that they will want to have a special meeting to discuss the application, and there will be pressure for this to be in public."
The new night flight submission can be viewed here.
IoT Gazette 4th Nov 2011
No Night Flights home page