Wednesday, August 26, 2009

An Airport Supporter Writes

Bignews Margate's Tony Flaig has emailed me regarding Chas 'n' Dave Margate International Airport and a comment I made about riding my huge and quite noisy old throbber past Flaig Towers at two in the morning as a protest against the proposed night flights:

I WAS GOING TO POST THIS TO YOUR BLOG

I'm never sure quite what you mean by "chippy tone", I take to be derisory.

Wondering quite why two supposed outsiders yourself and smeg seem to think the local environment has to change to suit you and him. I suppose residents of Thanet should count themselves lucky your denial of modern life isn't a bit more extreme.

Talking of thin ice, imagine how thin it might be for you, I've no problem with anything you've mentioned but find it a bit rich that you hide behind anonymity, then have the cheek to disclose snippets of private conversations.

Presumably your more than happy to trust others so your comments today are bit of a piss take particularly the two faced reference.


I must say, I don't look at the email account he sent it to very often, so when I logged in late last night under the influence of a rather fine Armagnac, I let him have it with both barrels. Although I expect he'd say it was more like being mauled by a dead sheep:

'Outsiders'? Don't make me laugh.

'Residents of Thanet' - we are residents of Thanet.

'Imagine how thin it might be for you' - presumably that is some kind of blackmail threat.

Honestly Tony, I put nothing but supportive comments on your blog (anonymously) and you come out with this crap? Is it any wonder I refer to you as 'Chippy Tone'?


Anyway, I'll publicly apologise here for being rather chippy myself. More to the point, I've sobered up. And the excellent yourfannitinnit is running the weekend's night flight beach protest on the front page today. Hurrah! (Click here to read yourfannitinnit online)

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two outsiders? Wake up you anti airport lot. There are loads of out here against the airport increasing night flights. Is it time for another poll ECR? I feel it is the same old whinging voices for the airport, not against it.

Anonymous said...

Glass houses and stones.

Thanet when run by its homebreds leaves a legacy of contaminated aquifer and the public health consequences thereof.

I remember the late John Allen a cockney who moved to Thanet. He became Chair of his residents assn.

Other Londoners who settled in Thanet warned John not to fight cases for locals because they would load him with bullets and then abandon him to fire them.

This is exactly what happened time and again. Including in 30 complaints against police John was fighting for Thanetians.

I reported sabotage at Petbow Cummins. I can carry the case in the Courts too IMO if the Chief constable records the crime complaint instead of standing by the unlawful cover up decisions of Kent Police in the past.

When people with money to invest (prospective employers and inward investors) it is not unknown for me to get an email.

I give chapter and verse on who in the Thanet trades unions knew about sabotage and did nothing (GMBU) who in TDC knew and did nothing and who at petbow knew and covered the matter up to protect market share. Who in the police took cover up decisions.

IE That the area has an unresolved history of being where sabotage occurred consistent with Stage 3 OIRA Garland Plan.

I think on one occasion I cost Thanet a possible inward investor (MOD contractor) who would have created 1500 jobs.

And that is the result of the native Thanetians being judged on their own history.

JP said...

I'm an outsider, Tony, who came here and changed my 'environment'. Know what I did? I built a business and created 6 jobs that didn't previously exist.

Is that 6 more than you've created?

Westgate Old Lady said...

I must say I rather thought 'chippy tone' sounded very pleasant indeed, not at all derogatory. I wouldn't worry about it my dear, Richard is only teasing you.

I'm not sure quite what Mr Card's point is though - does anyone else have a clue?

Peter C said...

1000's of people from all over the world have come to Thanet after seeing nakedinthanet.com. Probably.

Anonymous said...

It would put most of the better class of people off I think you will find Peter

Anonymous said...

Don't talk to him. His kind is not welcome.

Peter C said...

Most naturists tend to be middle-class, & most of my models are well-educated ex-grammar school types.

Anonymous said...

PLEASE can we have more protest like the writing in the sand? It seems to have touched a nerve.

Peter C said...

It touched a nerve??? What the heck did you write it with?!

Anonymous said...

I am an outsider and have bought a house and spent £50,000 doing it up.
I am changing the environment and looking to the future. The airport is a relic from the past. It offers no jobs and is a barrier to the progress of the region.
If you support it I am not clear what you are supporting. It is not jobs and it is not the wealth and progression of the area.
I suspect it is a love affair with the glory days of the Spitfire.

NO NIGHT FLIGHTS! said...

THANKS FOR THE PUBLICITY RICHARD.

IN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION ABOUT MORE PROTESTS WE HAVE PLENTY OF IDEAS FOR MORE AND YOU WILL CERTAINLY NOT MISS THEM

NO NIGHT FLIGHTS!

Anonymous said...

Well done you. You deserve a reward.

Anonymous said...

Any more live TV debates coming up? I missed the last one.

Anonymous said...

Well I only come to Ramsgate ocne a year for a week but unless there seems to be a tidy up that it for now. I though this year I could do a day trip to Bolougne. Are TDC and the councilors so stupid that they together with Euroferries announce a date for the ferry starting - yes next week and there is no sign of it! I can see that local residents have no faith in the lot of them if they cannot negotiate a contract like this. Maybe TDC and councilors should issue a progress report. It looks very odd to me. If the council are involved then you have no fear of a Manston expansion.

JP said...

Peter, you said something funny! Well done.

Anonymous said...

If you don't like night flights MOVE back where you came from - the airport was here before you and I remember the US Air Force flying at night!

That Steve (Smeg) person has only been living here for a short time and he wants to change our Thanet.. How dare he!

Mr Dickens of Broadstairs said...

The USAF provided no local jobs and one of their jets destroyed a large chunk of St Peters High street , so I would not get too nostalgic about those good old days

Anonymous said...

USAF bought a lot of money to Thanet and it suffered when they left. Whilst most people in Thanet are outsiders originally, my paternal family came from Salford in 1920 and maternal came from Greenwich in the late 20s, one can draw comparisons with colonialists arriving on a foreign shore and telling the locals how to behave and improve their lot. Look at where that got us. If you move next to a quiet airport one has to suppose it could be bought and made busy later otherwise you're fairly dumb.

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, colonialist-hating 11.58pm, what did the Romans do for us?

Head, SMEG said...

9.23pm, not looking to change a thing. Manston has failed, is failing, will continue to fail. Night flights will cause unecessary disturbance and may lengthen its demise.

The airport owners cannot operatte under restriction. They ask for an extra 1.5 hours, then they ask for through the night flying quotas (which are undefined) without penalty, next it will be totally unrestricted 24/7.

I'm making a suggestion that life in Thanet without a failing airport will be better than a life with.

Time is of the essence. 10 years have been wasted already, Thanet can't afford a further decade of decline.

Head, SMEG said...

Here is another suggestion where Manston could operate as a regional airport and potentially live happliy everafter with its neighbours;

ban on night flights
daytime hours start at 8am, cease at 9pm
daytime flight cap
no pure freight, passenger only
shorten runway so short haul/exec/aero club could only use it
flights to sunshine destinations for local's taking holidays, flights from city destination to bring in tourists
marketed as a parachute school,flying lessons, to bring people in for weekend stays

Would ifnratil go fo that? It would surely be better for the locality and create more jobs, wealth?

a DFL said...

Bought a house here, pay my taxes here, employ people here and therefore have just as much of a right to have my say in Thanet as anyone else.

If those who have lived here all their lives had been doing such a fine job, how come the place is in the state that it's in? And don't tell me it's all the fault of Gordon Brown. It was dying on its arse decades before New Labour was even a twinkle in Mandy's eye.

The airport is yet another blind alley that your incompetent leadership, and that includes Labour administrations over the years, are leading you along.

Anonymous said...

SMEG, seems like you know alot about what the business world wants from an airport...are you perhaps by any chance a disgruntled ex Infratil employee? If not, i'd suggest, leave the runnings of an airport to those who's commercial business is doing just that!
If Infratil decides to pull out and Manston closes, so be it. OTOH if they can make it work, best of luck to them!

Head, SMEG said...

I have not been employed by Infrastil or any other airport operator. Just a disgruntled local.

If said airport operator wants to sell itself as a community airport/regional airport, the councils do the same, they have to be prepared to take opinion of the locals.

Both the councils and the operator are currently actively seeking feedback. My posting is, as advertised, a suggestion.

That said, however, I think Infratil's first mistake was buying the airport in the first place. It did not take into consideration the previous "success" resulted in a bankruptcy, and the night time flying punitive fines were there to protect 35,000 Ramsgate residents + others starting at less than a mile from the runway.

Anonymous said...

Just a point of order but it is closer to 40,000 in Ramsgate. 39,639 according to the 2001 census.

Jeremy Jacobs said...

Is there an "Enlarge Manston Airport" campaign?

Anonymous said...

Yes Jeremy. They're calling themselves Thanet District Council.

Anonymous said...

And KCC's leader cllr paul carter

Anonymous said...

39,640 I have just moved here! :)

Anonymous said...

9.23 pm If you like airports so much why don't you move to Staines, or Hounslow or Hayes or West Drayton or some other formerly decent town that has been transformed into a polluted. noisy, traffic choked hell hole.

Anonymous said...

I am sure a lot would like to live in Staines, Gatwick etc and have a job, I lived on the Nethercourt Farm Estate in the 1980, and during the Falklands and remember the Harriers ect all night, every night oh! for about 2 days then slept through, our house was so close to the end of the runway I was sure the wheels woud touch our house as it was on the direct path, never bothered us, we choose to live their.
JP and others with your six jobs to Thanet, I wish oh I wish I could tell you a family that did better in harder times!