Well, here I am back in the comfort of the old cliff top mansion in the old Millionaires' Playground, after my old trip to foreign climes! I'm sure you're all going to give me a warm welcome home. In fact the dog poo on the hall carpet was still warm. Which was a nice touch.And no sooner am I back in harness, than I've thrown myself headlong into investigating these noxious night flights that the owners of Chas 'n' Dave Margate International Airport have requested. Remember, it's not just an extra 90 minutes kip they want to deprive you off. They've put in for a 'quota' system that will allow them to fly knackered old Jumbos full of rotting bananas over your bonces all night. Quite what the quota will be, nobody knows, as they haven't specified what they want. How any sort of meaningful 'consultation' can be held when the terms of the request aren't known, lord knows!
They say that this so far meaningless 'quota' system applies at other regional airports. Well, I've searched Google maps high and low, and I can't find any other regional airport with a town of 40,000 people and 911 listed buildings at the end of the runway. But there's more.
Ever since the airport's foreign owners Infratil put in this request last month, mystery and confusion has surrounded the 'consultation' period. If I was a cynical sort, I might say that was a deliberate tactic on the part of those supposedly 'impartial' council officers who are well known privately to be rabid supporters of noisy, aluminium lumps robbing us of our hard-earned nightly snooze. Eventually it transpired that there was a 6 month 'consultation' period, with a 12 week public 'consultation' period to start after the next Airport Working Party Committee meeting (chaired by Tory poodle Cllr Mike Harrison). Trouble was, there wasn't another committee meeting scheduled until next year, although one has now been hastily arranged and will take place this Thursday. So the public 'consultation' starts 21 September and ends 11 December.
The surprise is that the clock is already ticking on the 6 month (er, what shall we call it, 'private'?) 'consultation', and has been since Infratil lodged the request a month ago. Er, nobody made that clear, did they? One would have to assume that TDC and Infratil have been stitching this up months before the official request was put in, effectively giving them a hefty head start over anyone who might wish to put together a reasonable case against the night flights. What's more, according to the daft 'consultation' plan which TDC have now published here, roadshows will be held around the island - all during the middle of the day when anyone with a job, who might reasonably be wary about night flight blight interrupting their 8 hours, will presumably be out earning a crust! Not only that, but they'll be staffed by the very people who have vested interests in persuading the public that night flights are a good thing - council officers, Infratil and Mike 'The Poodle' Harrison!
58 comments:
I can't wait to see brian "manston" White telling third generation unemployed that if they stop drinking petrol and watching jeremy Kyle, they may one day get to fly one of the afri-crates over their home town.
Please make sure we know when the consultations are ECR, otherwise if we blink we might miss them as TDC probably hope.
I'll rendition that!!!
AnonymousECR - affaid of using his real name when he attacks real people. No credibility - ECR what a stitch-up
Westcliff Snide
Ramsgate
Do get over yourself Tony. Your blog is tedious enough as it is, with its continuous parade of so-called slights against the great Tony Flaig. You don't need to compound it with this obsessive vendetta you seem to be pursuing.
Kent TV were way off the mark when they alleged that Bignews Margate contained ‘a number of inappropriate, unlawful and damaging defamatory allegations about Kent TV and the people who work there.' They would have been more accurate had they said that your blog is merely a vehicle for a sad old git to exercise his spleen and exhibit his petty his grudges against anyone he's got a chip on his shoulder about, which over the course of the past three years seems to have been just about everyone. Even those like me who were prepared help you publicise your cause in the national press when you came grovelling after being threatened with a libel suit.
I'm still waiting for an apology for the phone abuse, by the way.
Now, 'rendition' did you say 8:46am? You're surely not hinting that the CIA have been making extraordinary rendition flights out of Manston, are you?
Perhaps I should investigate that for Private Eye? A magazine which, if you hadn't noticed Tony, exposes all manner of real shysters under the proprietorship of, um, 'Lord Gnome'. Er, not his real name, methinks.
Been led off topic again ECR! Shame. Don't know how an anti night flight campaign is going to gain momentum on this blog with you two old queens at it all the time. Get over it already.
Well tell that to Fat Tony the phone abuser!
Tell that to Fat Tony, who's happy to exploit people's good natures when he needs hoisting out of the shit and then forget it when his own hypocrisy is mildly pointed out to him!
Oooh, I must go for a lie down now!
Once I've made a few calls about these alleged rendition flights that is!
Please do not waste your time on Tony Flaig we all know now he is a hypocrite, phone abuser and likely to take offence at the slightest criticism and turn on his former 'friends'. Your blog is clearly where most people get their inside information on Thanet so please move on.
Gosh Dicky, won't you ever do as you're told?
Peter, is not noise pollution a serious environmental issue ?
Peter, love, can I remind you that this isn't a football match and you aren't a spectator choosing one side over another?
So you are concerned about the environmental impact? You are perhaps worried by Micheal's assertion that water quality will be jeopardised, or that aviation fuel will spill into Pegwell Bay? Well, good for you, you too can join the antis for those reasons alone - it is allowed.
Well I must say that that's the gentlest way that I've heard someone calling Peter thick, for a long time!
Well done you!
ECR
Sorry for the delay, got caught up in the excitement of the Match between you and Tony there.
Evidently some flights have left early in the morning with some persons (allegedly) who are not welcome any more in this country?
I am sure a polite phone call to HMRC would clear matters up?
˙uʍop ǝpısdn puɐ spɹɐʍʞɔɐq ǝdʎʇ oʇ qɹɐǝן puɐ ǝɟıן ɐ ʇǝƃ ˙sqoɾ ɟo ʇunoɯɐ ʇsɐʌ ɐ ʇɐǝɹƃ ןןıʍ ʇı ʇɐɥʇ ƃuıʞuıɥʇ uı ǝʌɐıu ǝɹɐ soɹd ǝɥʇ puɐ pǝqɹnʇsıp sǝƃɐןןıʌ ʇuǝɯǝɹıʇǝɹ ɹıǝɥʇ ʇuɐʍ ʇ,uop sıʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ˙ʎɐʍ ɹǝɥʇıǝ sƃıɟ 2 ǝʌıƃ ʇ,uop ʎʇıɹoɾɐɯ ǝɥʇ ʞuıɥʇ ı ˙ǝnssı ǝɥʇ dn ǝɔıds puɐ ʎɹʇ oʇ ʇsnɾ sɹɐʍ ƃoןq pǝןןɐɔ os ǝɥʇ ʇnoqɐ ʇuǝɯɯoɔ ppo ǝɥʇ ƃuıddıןs uǝɥʇ 'uoısuɐdxǝ ʇɹodɹıɐ ǝɥʇ ƃuıpɹɐƃǝɹ ןǝıds pןo ǝɯɐs ǝɥʇ ƃuıʇsod ǝןdoǝd pɐs pןo ǝɯɐs
Surely you'd want to learb to spell, first?
That could great jobs, too!
Some people are so niave, huh?
¡ǝɯ uo ǝʎǝ uɐ dǝǝʞ oʇ noʎ ǝʞıן spɹɐʇs,q ɔıʇuɐpǝd ǝɹɐ ǝɹǝɥʇ ןןǝʍ sɐ ʇsnɾ 'pɐǝɥ ǝɥʇ oʇ pooןq ɟo ɥsnɹ ɐ pɐɥ ǝʌɐɥ ʇsnɯ 62:4 ʎɹɹos
Rendition flights have refueled at Prestwick which is also owned by Infratil.
Peter..4-28... You can't prove that & do you have an understanding of the Guttman Scale, in relation to noise?
I have lived in Ramsgate all my life and now have young kids and an elderly mother who I care for at home. How ignorant and selfish of Peter Checksfield to say that noise is not an environmental issue. Night flights would cause all manner of disruption and ill health in our family which is why I am against them.
Oh Peter, you can be sweet sometimes. Well, actually noise does affect health to a surprising extent. For instance, the noise of an over flying plane at night causes a rise in the blood pressure whether or not the listener is awake! Wow - who would have believed that? Not only that but it has been shown that these incidents of increased blood pressure result in a higher day to day blood pressure, thereby increasing the likelihood of all manner of related ills.
I heard that on radio 4 one evening a couple of weeks ago and whilst I'm afraid I can't give a peer reviewed reference of the research paper I will submit it as anecdotal evidence.
And, dearest, you only just know me so how can you say that I don't care about other issues? As it happens it breaks my heart to see Margate slipping into further decline, it makes me properly angry. The town deserves better, and with luck it'll get better.
Sorry about being slow, I'm a bit hard of hearing.
But if you read closely what I wrote you'd understand that blood pressure increases whether or not you sleep through it. So the happy deep sleepers are still edging towards a life of high blood pressure even in their sleep.
I visit my holiday home in Spain about 4 times a year and yearn to be able to fly from Manston. An airport a stones throw from home and I have to make that awful journey to Gatwick with its congestion and nerve racking hold ups. With the new rail link to London and its lovely long runway why on earth are we not cashing in on all the potential new business and jobs for this area?
Joan H... Where have you been the last decade??? It's been tried time & again & still fails. When will people move on & put their energies & money into something that will enhance the area instead of blighting it.
Anon 9:23, where have YOU been? The high speed rail link is brand new.
Well said Joan H, I too suffer terrible traffic getting to Gatwick for my shopping trips to New York. Those dreadful Ramsgate residents complaining about not getting a good night's sleep or a decent education for their children are just so selfish, don't you think?
The rail link is a complete joke as regards Manston's viability.
Gone are the days when estate agents showed round DFLs saying and the fast link will get you to London in 50 minutes.
1.25 hours plus journey time to Ramsgate station , will still mean that it will not be any use to passengers as it is too far away from London to be useful. The airport will only work if we declare war on France, not a bad idea but also not very likely.
Only Infratil who want to sell it, and Ken Wills who wants to make money on the back of the China catflap still push the airport as a viable business
Yes, the rail link is a bit of a joke - why on earth stop at Ramsgate? Who wants to live there? It ought to stop at Westgate where it's likely to attract customers who can afford it. My local councilor (hi Simon!!!) will no doubt be making representation to the authorities and will get it changed.
I spent years working at Gatwick Airport and we never used to have 747s even landing there at 3 am so why Manston? The earliest flight was usually the British Airways 747 from Lagos/Accra, a passenger aircraft. It was then usually quiet for an hour and really started picking up at about 6-7 am. Freight flights as we have mainly at Manston barely registered at all. The only flight out after midnight was a Royal Mail flight to the Channel Islands. You people are going to die young with worry mainly driven by people who don't seem to know much about aviation.
Forget Gatwick and think Stansted. Flights at 1am, 2am all thru the night.
Yes peter, who cares, which means you'd be happy to say such things at a public debate?
http://www.stanstedairport.com/portal/page/Stansted%5EGeneral%5EFlight+information%5ELive+flight+arrivals/
No Peter, it's not irony with you, it's childish frustration leading to meaningless diatribe.
No need to stick a "so there!" on the end of your comments, as it comes across loud and clear, anyway!
Help yourself, and us, by venting your frustration into a sock will you, you sad little creep.
So there!
Ignore her Peter. Word has it that Rick now knows her true identity & will be having a little word with her later.
I'm still waiting for the day that an electronic voice actually makes me feel angry. Though I do find that bit in ELO's Mr Blue Sky rather irritating!
Maybe you're mistaking venomous sarcasm for anger?
No surprise there, as you display no understanding whatsoever of the concept of sarcasm, you'd have to clutch at the nearest thing that you DO understand.
Still, you seem to be coping with it well, what with your endless stream of drivel and telling your mum and dad on me.
Please, also, don't make the mistake of thinking that this comment is addressed To you. It's ABOUT you, on somebody else's blog, in somebody else's town, so there's really no need to reply to me.
But if you're going to, and FYI, I'm not due my period for another week, so try to get it over with before then.
For further assistance, I'd recommend that you visit this site.
Lucy, love, you seem to have been sucked into the blogging war - how on earth did that happen?
Sorry but can someone explain to me what is stopping Peter being against the expansion of the airport on environmental grounds? Given the crap they spray over us every time they go over and the fuel they consume, i don't see the problem.
I think Peter needs someone else to tell him what to think about it. Why am I not surprised?
I'm afraid it's all part of the idiot Flaig's misguided personal vendetta Jean.
He now seems to have sucked in Irritating Bloke by convincing him that Lucy and I are one and the same, a pet theory he has espoused for years. I can assure you (as I have Fat Tony endlessly) that, despite what might sometimes seem a symbiotic relationship between myself and the Lovely Luce and the fact that we both appear to live in Ramsgate, I have no idea who he, she or it (sorry Lucy!) is. So Rick and Chippy need to be careful there or they could well end up in deep legal waters.
Odd, though, as I always thought Rick, despite his long and rambling comments, was more of a campaigner than a mere grudge carrier for other people's petty feuds and campaigns of malicious falsehoods. Ever since he exposed the Thor and Sericol pollution he had been accorded the unique accolade of a seat in the corner of this blog and the freedom to ramble on at will.
However, that right has now been rescinded, and the link to his Billow Wright's blog removed from my sidebar. I was pursuing one or two of his, er, theories with the Eye but that seems pointless now. After all, look how grateful Tony was after I hoisted him out of the doo-doo when he was threatened with libel by Kent TV. I don't suppose, now that Rick and Chippy are chums, I could expect anything less than the same 'gratitude' from Rick.
Hmm, well, I find that blogger is a little like visiting the zoo, without leaving the house, Jean.
You can marvel at the beauty and grace of some creatures, laugh at the antics of others, toil in the anguish of a few, whilst others fight over a lump of meat that's been tossed to them.
Strange sub-aquatic, arachnid, insect, bird and reptilian life-forms await to fascinate and ponder how or why upon.
A bit like my road, should I wander outside. Or the rest of the World, should I fancy a bit of a walk!
But every now and again I feel, in whichever zoo you're in, you have to stand up, laugh at someone in the face and call them a dick-head!
I expect that that's what landed me in among all this paranoia, ignorance, intolerance, rage, male-pride and abuse.
That and I quite enjoy it, up to a point!
I could always be mistaken, though, and I've simply picked up a stalker.
Wouldn't be the first one and I'm sure it won't be the last! ;-)
Duh!
Well that's what you get for making a cup of tea, half way through a comment, I suppose!
Oh, and calm down Dicky or something's going to go pop!
And I think Petey's talking to someone that isn't here, again.
Someone (actually here) should tell him!
You're probably right there Peter! Though quite how Rick has got it in his head that Lucy has been conducting a campaign against the disabled, gawd only knows. And I thought he was more intelligent than to believe any of the guff CT's been feeding him.
Meanwhile, I have it on reliable authority that Chippy has been on his PiePhone again demanding the removal of 'deflammatory' remarks!
So you see, Lucy, I've got my own stalker too. I just wish it was a more attractive one!
Moi aussi, c'est la vie....
Gosh, I can feel a little poem coming on!
Actually, stuff that! I've got the day off, I think I may wander off to the zoo that sells beer, for the afternoon!
Peter:"why on earth aren't you & others against more roads being built???"
Er...I am actually, since you're asking. Oh, you're not. Just assuming as usual. More cycle paths would be great.
I have been following the dispute between you and Tony Flaig with great interest.
As a barrister working in a large London practice which specialises in libel and defamation, my advice would be to reveal your identity and then sue Mr Flaig. There is plenty of material on Mr Flaig's blog referring to 'the author of' or 'the creator of' your blog which amounts to a slur on your character 'in real life'. Furthermore I assume that there are a number of people who know who the actual author of this blog is, and in whose eyes you have therefore been exposed to malicious ridicule.
I note from your comments that he has already received a warning letter from Kent TV and he regularly 'oversteps the line' in my opinion when it comes to broadcast journalists in general and Kent TV in particular. If, as you claim, you are a journalist, and if you are a member of the NUJ, they may well be prepared to back your case, especially given his track record of making defamatory statements about members of the press.
I would further advise you not to engage in any more conversations with Mr Flaig. I will email you privately with my details should you wish to discuss the matter further.
ECR wants Tony to "out" him. Surely this is obvious to everyone.
Pete,
If you read the infratil masterplan for Manston, it mentions lots about new roads to get people to the airport.
Being against the airport means being against those roads.
Peter, Steve has now closed his blog!!!
Oh why has the Stop Manston blog closed? Some twat posting rudeness?
Pete,
If you read the infratil masterplan for Manston, it mentions lots about the new rail link to get people to the airport.
It also mentions that 30% of passengers only get to an airport via the train. There is much more emphasis on roads.
The rail link proposed is to spin off the fast rail to Manston. It assumes that Londoners will use the rail link to get to Manston. Londoners who currently have cheaper, nearer rail links to Luton, Stansted., Gatwick, Heathrow and City as supposed to travel at least twice the distance and more than double the cheapest rail price to get to Manston to fly on holiday.
An alternative view of this ECR v Tony Flaig thing 6:35 might be that Tony has actively sought publicity and revels in the small amount of notoriety he has achieved through his blog and should therefore not be surprised to be a target, after all he does not hold back on targeting other people.He acts like a self appointed politician and politicians are fair game.
ECR unlike other Thanet bloggers who could be named may not desire to boast of his real life achievements or non-achievements as the case may be and may have no political ambitions whatsoever. Just a thought.
I'm sure that Steve will continue talking S.H.1.T. or C.R.2.P.
What a convincing argument!
I have completely changed my mind thanks to you 2.10pm.
A close friend of mine has a Yorkshire Terrier that, although twelve years old, constantly bays for attention, food, attention, treats, attention, toileting, attention..... like a two year old child.
He's tried all kinds of things to make this dog grow up and reason things out, instead of compulsively reacting to his environmental/sociopathical needs, but, alas, the dog is, and always will be, the same.
Though I get the impression, these days, that he's learned to accept his dog for what he is, ignores any 'opinion' that he (it ed.) may seem to have and just feeds it, pets it, treats it, pets it, toilets it, pets it....
They appear to get along just fine, of late!
You need to get a girlfriend Pete.
Such a shame that pretty much all Simons are boys!
What else is there to do with a numb-nuts like yourself, but to embarrass you?
I'll indulge you though, by no longer responding (honestly, what's the point?) to anything you post, henceforth.
The pleasure has been all yours!
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