Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Airport For Sale - One Careful Owner

Unfortunately not a plan to sell off Manston and turn it into a wind farm. Although that would probably be for the best, given last night's experience.

No, this is Maypole Airfield, just off the Thanet Way between St Nicholas-at-Wade and Hernia Bay. It also happens to be where our local doctor/councillor tugs many a banner from. And where some of the local residents object to the aforementioned banner tugging.

It's on the market for £1.25m, and for that you get 56 acres, 'five spacious hangars', a toilet block with two WCs, a club house, equestrian facilities, and a three bedroom bungalow. Lovely. I suggest the Doc gets down there quick with a wad of folding, before the locals club together and, er, queer his pitch.

Click here for details of sale at Browns Country Property

Click here for Maypole Airfield website

8 comments:

Unknown said...

You are a little behind the curve on this story ECR. Business as usual at the airfield and expected to remain that way.

The issues, as you may see on an earlier ThanetLife story surround the number of daily aircraft movements rather than the towing of banners. Local villagers objected to an application from the owner to make an increase from the 12 flights per day limit, which I have only ever seen reached twice in several years. In many cases, outside of the summer months, the weekly average, drops, to perhaps decimal point figures or even zero, and I might be the only occasional pilot using it for days and weeks at a time as I fly off to Rochester, which is our principal operating base and where I keep the second aircraft.

Ironically, you wouldn't know there was an airfield there unless you knew where it was, as it is to the west of the village proper. Have a look at Google maps!

Hope that helps!

Richard Eastcliff said...

If you're going to leave comments like that go and start your own blog. Oh, sorry, touchy subject...

Anonymous said...

Thanetlife was mentioned by 6.06, what is that?

Lucy Mail said...

Oh dear!
Here we go again.

YAWN!!!

Anonymous said...

APRIL 2005
OWNERS of Maypole Farm airstrip have vowed to appeal against the city council's refusal to increase the permitted number of daily take-offs from 12 to 18.
After a similar appeal case was recently won at the High Court, Andy and Sally Haigh are confident their opponents may have won the battle, but not the war.
But at a meeting of city council's planning committee on Tuesday, Maypole's repeat application was dismissed as a 'ghost that should take no for an answer'.
Councillors unanimously rejected the Haigh's plans to increase light aircraft flights by almost 50 per cent, with one even calling for Maypole's investigation by the enforcement section for possible breaches of its current conditions.
Villagers had sent 67 opposition letters to the city council and a 110-name petition, which represents a quarter of the population. They burst into spontaneous applause after the 16-0 vote to refuse was cast.
Manston airport had also opposed the increase in flights, citing a serious flight safety risk to its operations from non-radio aircraft.
A 'vitriolic' row over noise generated by flights to and from Maypole has split the village.
Neighbour Kathy Smith told the meeting that villagers' peace is most blighted on fine days when they want to enjoy their gardens.
She said: "The sound is comparable to a motorbike without a silencer being driven around my garden. What is more just, the pleasure of a small minority or the peace of the majority?"
Hoath parish council chairman Alan Smith agreed the noise was unbearable and unreasonable.
"Take-off generates four to five minutes of intensive noise, from a continual drone to ear-splitting screeching," he said.
Marshside ward councillor Mike Nee opposed Maypole's plans, saying: "This is a 50 per cent increase in current usage. There has never been such a strong battery of opinion representing residents on an application to my knowledge."
Labour group leader Cllr Ron Pepper said: "You sit on this committee long enough and you see certain ghosts that keep coming back to haunt you. What irritates me is that some people never take no for an answer."

Faversham News, 07 April 2005

Lucy Mail said...

Next thing you know there'll be a huge barrage of opinionated statistics, followed by a bunch of opinionated, counter statistics, with little interspersions of paranoid rantings and some piss-poor jokes.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the personal insults and name-calling, which is usually about the point when some people start going off in a huff, others are satisfied with a 'job well done' and everyone can move on to the next thread with the misguided belief that they've made their point and that, somehow, things have changed!

Silly arses!

Anonymous said...

Like you have, Lucy.

just william said...

What a load of nimbys!