So, get your glad rags on, get down to the disco, and boogie!
Funny, though. I've not seen any comment yet from Scobes Minor about Manston, despite the fact that he is Thanet South's Labour candidate for next year's general election. Perhaps he'll, er, take off once he knows which way the wind is blowing! Geddit!!!????!?!!???!!!
Meanwhile Ramsgate's feisty Labour Mayor (-ess?) Kim Gibson has firmly pinned her colours to the mast with this comment on my Facebook page:
Time for facts. It could never work CAA was not going to give out any more flight paths due to capacity being filled by other airports. Secondly the catchment area does not support numbers that would use the airport. Thirdly if a miracle happened and they could be granted permission to fly more than 8 million passengers a year a public safety zone would have to come into force. This is a 4m isosceles triangle which means you cannot congregate within the area over 3 hours. No development. No schools etc. ie you could have a golf course but not a clubhouse. Thirdly at the sister airport Prestwick at its height it supported 300 jobs. Now we could have ikea plus other shops similar to blue water (£40.00 disappears down the M2) some residential maybe a centre park/haven incorporating a swimming pool, ice rink, funfair. All this could employ so many more than the airport ever could. People could come here and this would be the hub to visit Canterbury, Broadstairs etc etc people from up North could holiday and be an hour away from a day trip to London and visit all of Kent's wonderful villages, history again etc as there is so much. The airport was never going to be the regeneration of Thanet but a leisure/retail/residential will be.
So it doesn't look as if we'll be seeing Our Kim and Ann Gloag in a cat fight any time soon. Which is a pity, as I think they would have been pretty well matched.
Oh dear. We seem to have gone back to the airport again. Never mind, think of it as a training loop!
55 comments:
The hair dye has gone to her head!
Got to admit, that would be a good pay-per-view match - gloag vs gibson. Gloags trademark 'Glasgow kiss' countered by Gibson's 'Ramsgate 'Andshake'. And where is young Will.i.am? I know he is in wedded bliss at the moment but surprised no comments.
Funny how all these familiar, "named" bloggers have started to re-appear on this blog. Could it be that with Thanet Life not posting contributions (because the blogmaster is away busy, I know) they are keen to share their vision(s) just about anywhere? Any (air or sea, take your pick) port in a storm?
All anonymouses look the same to me!
ex-Mayor Gibson. Especially with this rambling nonsense about no development but maybe an Ikea at Junkyard Manston.
RTC next Wednesday 7pm at Kings Theatre: a vote of no confidence in Clive and lackeys such as this.
You certainly won't see an Ikea, for precisely the same reasons Manston has failed. Catchment.
Ikea look for locations on or near motorway networks, ideally at junctions, near conurbations of 500,000 or more. On that basis somewhere around the Medway towns might, just, be suitable, or in the future somewhere arond Ashford, maybe. But East Kent? Forget it, although the population is sizeable, the transport nodes are not there.
Now, if Hitachi, who have made noises about wanting a factory in the South as well as in the North East, wanted a site for a new international rail vehichle facility, Manston might *just* be suitable, with sufficient incentives. But it's going to be a few houses and empty space for a long, long time.
Whaddya mean "doom and gloom" about the airport? - you are neglecting those of us who are filling our glasses and letting joy be unconfined at the news!
No, probably not an IKEA - but a holiday village in Soviet/Turkish style where grateful workers could sun themselves in solar powered carvans, beside a solar heated pool, drinking our remarkable local beers and spending money in beautiful downtown Ramsgate - yeah, bring it on. We could do with some of that Isle of Sheppey vibe here too...Seriously though, there are the vestiges of a good idea in Cllr Gibson's comments.
5.41,there are no good ideas in the Gibson ramble. All I see is a mess of misinformation. She needs to go back and read up on PSZ's. The only thing to do with Manston is build the field and they will come'. Now quite what that field will be is open to some new fresh ideas. The only fact that Kim is correct about is catchment, that should drive any future plans. Based on fully researched facts, a sustainable idea should come forward and be supported by all parties, UKiP excepted of course.
Great Will Scobie pic. I can't see him the 21/03/14 Isle of Thanet Gazette - there's a big pot hole outside Aldi Ramsgate that's waiting for Will to stand next to.
Who on earth chose the mayor?
collars and cuffs don't match and she wears trousers!
Whatever next?
How did your Pleasurama song (To Barcelona) work out by the way ?
We did Scobie (Scobie adobe dhobi do etc)nigh to death last time.
Using Manston as a verb we have Man stoned to death. If Will is in close proximity we have Man stoned to death by Scobie. None of it is funny. How is the singwriting ?
I'm currently fiddling with my libretto!
Is the MOD Firestation closing too? Is that still polluting the water?
And are the dumped jets still at Manston - Gloag removing those?
The Mayor is not elected but appointed (secretly) by the other RTC councillors. This is something of a made-up rule for their own convenience and was never agreed by the public in the founding of RTC.
Similarly all RTC councillors are now also TDC councillors. And many of the latter husband and wife teams or other family members like the Scobies.
We need direct elections (and at KCC: who appointed Carter?) and an end to doublehatters and other family members. Also clear rules on referenda and recall.
We should even consider reducing the seats available to the parties if they are so unrepresentative and simply vote in blocs.
Not one councillor has spoken up on the TDC corruption but rather chosen to try and deny or minimise it.
We are seeing the collapse of TDC etc as too rotten for governance.
Nice one ECR. Fiddling with libretto. Gargling the harmonics.
Even Brenda Blethyn (via Twitter)is now campaigning to save Manston, and word has it that Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones is also joining the campaign! The most "famous" person to oppose it meanwhile is Tim Garbutt.
Well said 7:14. Brenda twittering and a rumour of Ronnie Wood: Manston is on the up despite going bust again! Do you have any more numpty tips for us?
I doubt Gloag will be rushing to remove the dumped jets at Manston in the next 3 weeks before it closes.one for the taxpayer again or just left there.
Which councillor is responsible for the airport and who are the TDC Airport Committee?
I assume that all anons are Tim, and that includes myself!
Well said AllAnonTim! But who is on the Airport committee?
As the bandwagon now has momentum, how long before Driver jumps on and starts a Save Manston campaign?
Anon 5:51,
Your so called "dumped jets" are used for fire training, you clown.
I think Manston should be kept open at public expense solely to give anontim something to rant on about as part of his care plan.
Why is it that people can't debate - and disagree - without using disability or (mental) illness as a form of insult? And they say society has moved on…
I think Manston should be kept open at private expense solely to give TDC and KCC something to say will be the answer to all of East Kents problems.
They then have to apply no effort to the problems at all, leaving them free to collect their salarys and expenses for attempting to collect the rubbish and handing out dole money.
What, that is what has been happening for the past 20 years already?
9:19 tell us more about these dumped jets for fire training. How many are there? What type of jet? How often are they set alight?
You're not confusing them with the ones inside the airport fence that have been there years?
Interesting that the Broadstairs Town Council annual meeting agenda has the public involved - until the councillor salaries are discussed then the public and press have to leave and are then readmitted to vote on it(!). Why would the taxpayer provide funds to be spent secretly? And is filming allowed?
If Manston isn't an airport (and thus without fire cover or indeed planes) why would fire training continue?
Another KLM overflight at 9am today - why haven't those stopped? What if there's a crash now?
Dynamite revelations and documents on Driver's blog about EKO and CLive and Macgonagal voting to approve the decision to sue themselves(!)
"Another KLM overflight at 9am today - why haven't those stopped? What if there's a crash now?"
Why stop? The airport is still fully operational...
Full ATC, Fire etc ..
The Broadstairs & St Peters Town Council annual meeting is in the church hall at St Peters, is open to the public and no one is excluded from that meeting at any time. The public are also invited to ask questions. As for salaries, 10:11, they are in the town accounts, there is no secrecy and they amount to a few hundred quid a year for town councillors.
Aircraft for the MOD fire school aren't set alight. A specialized contraption is used to fight fires. Aircraft are used to train on access etc. That is all done on the off-airport MOD site.
The airside airliners are used for access training, never for burning.
New buyer for airport?
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet_extra/news/buyer-comes-forward-as-manston-14667
Hmm, infratil put Manston up for sale in march 2012 and sells in Nov 2013.
New owners look to close it down, and a 'consortium' come from nowhere and want to keep it as a going concern.
They want to hold a public meeting in Thanet to tell us all about it. Here's me thinking they should be holding a meeting in private to be talking about the sale with Ann Gloag.
Pull the other one Rog, it's got bells on.
So finally we have an owner actually doing something with the site rather than letting it slowly rot and our intrepid councillors and MP's are doing their utmost to make her feel like some Hebridean raider trashing all in front of her.
The bollocks about a buyer is all very intresting, but where have you heard the airport is up for sale, Ann just wants to close it down to stop the £10k a day losses.
TDC, KCC, mystery shopper et al, you had your chance for 18 months to put your money where your mouth is. Opportunity lost for you to piss our money up another wall, but I'm sure you will find another waste of money somewhere down the road.
So MP Gale has found an interested party to take over the loss making airport. The airport that was once worth £22 millions to the previous owner.
The current owner seems to be in a very good bargaining position now that they are going down the closure route have paid a pound plus £250,000 working capital. Add in other purchasing expenses and losses of £10k a day they must have laid out something like £2 millions so far.
Known for their asset stripping they could be looking at profits of over £30 millions for their 700 acres as a closed airport.
So I hope Gale's buyers have deep pockets and good contacts amoung the airlines to bring in business where others have failed.
Calling all god-botherers
I see Simon Moores is advocating shutting all the level crossings in canterbury and running high speed trains from manston to st pancras in record times so Londoners can add manston to the bottom of a list containing heathrow, gatwick, stansted, City, Luton and Southend.
6:35, do you make it up as you go or is it just your confused state of mind. Where exactly is Simon Moores advocating closing level crossings. In a way I am surprised you are still here now that Michael has given you free reign on his blog.
Anyway, Fats, I have better things to do than exchange nonsense with you.
The only thing these politicians really care about is being proven wrong. If they have been backing the wrong pony for the past 15 years - which Ann is insinuating by closing it - they all have egg, or rather whole battery farms on their faces.
This is why they are squirming and so keen to see it stay open. Plus it means they don't have to think or do when penning strategy docs.
East Kent - Manston. Done.
Not anymore..........
Tim, go and help your lovely mrs run the restaurant. There's a good chap.
I'm not Tim, I'm Steve!!!
Dear Residents,
I write to you with information from the Manston Airport Consultative Committee public meeting on Tuesday 2nd December 6:30pm
The meeting I felt was key to attend,
specifically as I live on the Ramsgate flight approach path and I'm very interested in developments at the airport suggested in its DraftMasterplan, published on 8th October. For those not familiar with its content, the Masterplan predicts growth, and sets out plans to accommodate 1.2 million passengers by 2010, 2 million passengers by 2013, and eventually rising to 6 million passengers by 2033. TheMasterplan also details how this will be achieved, and touches on the effect this will have on the surrounding environment. The full plan is available on the Manston Airport website.
Many facts and figures were discussed, but the points important to me and every otherRamsgate resident are obvious - increases in flights over our town will have a detrimental effect on our lives through continuous noise pollution. Flights will arrive for 70% of the time over Ramsgate, with planes only at 500ft creating noise levels of over 100 decibels for the noisiest aircraft, with the average maximum at 85 decibels. Nightflights, which have increased by 518% since the current owners took ownership, will wake you from your sleep on occasions. Ramsgate MainSands, the town centre and harbour will all suffer from increased noise levels. This will only work to discourage visitors and new business from coming to Ramsgate. House prices will depress at a greater rate versus other parts of Thanet that are not under the flight path.
Only two members of the public attended the meeting last night. The public has until 19th December to officially respond to the Masterplan. The next step for the Masterplan is to submit a full planning applicationto the council, who fervently support all development up to 10 million passengers a year at Manston.
You can voice your opinion in many ways; by electronic feedback on the Manston Airport website; by writing to your local councillor (details available onTDC's website); or by writing to your local MP, Stephen Ladyman.
If you think airport expansion is a bad thing for Ramsgate, you have to makeyour voice heard before its too late.
Kind Regards
Steve Higgins
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/stephen-higgins/67/61a/b40
http://stopmanstonexpansiongroup.blogspot.com/
Steve Higgins, a member of the public who watched the meeting, claimed
to have a document showing the airport’s owners Infratil wanted 1,995 QC – equivalent
to around 500 night flights
All of which 7:05 is now ancient history and totally irrelevant. Steve, incidentally, has remained conspicuous by his silence throughout the recent debate.
Tim, Steve may enjoy the odd glass of the juice, but he ain't a nutter. You on the other hand - I rest my case.
Steve got into trouble with his previous employers over his anti-Manston stance. So he now posts anonymously.
How would you know that 7:39 or do you recognise the DNA of all anonymous posters?
Steve told me himself 8:12.
8:15, without knowing who you are that statement is quite meaningless. Kind of like hearsay by one anon from another.
Calm down everyone! It's just Cheggers making his usual feeble attempts to stir the possum!
Well at least Cheggers still has the same opinion on the airport, unlike flash-in-a-pan Smeggy!
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