Sunday 6 September 2015

Will Manston destroy Ramsgate

I do not, as a rule, blog about Manston however it is getting to crunch time and with the threat to Ramsgate's renaissance I thought a brief summary of what might come to pass would be appropriate.


Manston is closed, it is no more, it is deceased, in fact it wouldn't go Vroom if you put 40000 volts through it. Famous words and oh so true in this case. The only knight in shining armour is an American hedge Fund who is led by Tony Freudmann , who has run Manston before and failed miserably.
So what do we know about Riveroak? Michael Child recently answered that in part as follows "The choice here isn’t between an airport and a mixed use light industrial and residential development but between RiverOak who as far as I can see have no verifiable record of creating any jobs and Discovery Park who already run the development that is the largest local employer.

As a local businessperson I am only too aware that a very large proportion of my customers, who have an income sufficient that it means they can afford to buy more than essentials, work at Sandwich Discovery Park.

I have looked long and hard to find any references to RiverOak doing anything more than operating as a residential real estate hedge fund company. By this I mean investing clients funds into housing to produce a return on the rents.

I can find no verifiable link between RiverOak and commercial property investment, in fact they don’t even own the freehold of their own office.

I can’t see how any credible company could go through years of trading without leaving a media and internet trail showing what they have achieved, this may of course be because my it skills are not up to the job." In my research I have to agree with him.



Recently a leaflet has been delivered in Ramsgate which seems to suggest a profound difference between the legal owners and the would be owners with TDC being asked to act as Robin Hood.


Whilst this is in part shows the propaganda which has been a highlight of the media campaign over the last year it does make simple the choice available to the people living in Ramsgate. Do you want jobs and development of the site to provide a mixed use site with an opportunity for the unemployed or do you want 747 jets flying in 800 feet about Ramsgate on a regular basis with the prospect of initially 39 jobs and rising to 132 after 18 months even assuming they can get 12 carriers to come here, with what is a very competitive market. Other sites like East midlands and Southend are far better suited to Cargo than Manston.

Some might see it one way and others another however in a recent, unscientific poll, on "We love Ramsgate" 1% voted for Riveroak and 2% voted for the legal owners, showing 97% have no idea what they want and don't get involved.

My personal opinion is everyone has a say else this view may win out:-
I may add more later





11 comments:

  1. With Ramsgate the noise pollution would be considerable however I think there needs to be more focus on the particulate air pollution and its effects on the other Thanet towns.

    I have had a bit look at this one, see http://thanetonline.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/manston-airport-air-pollution-admission.html and like the RiverOak credibility issue no convincing counter argument.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wells has a problem as a former Tory when the council helped remove the air monitors....a liability for public health

    ReplyDelete
  3. There is a 3rd option beyond River oak and Stone hill - that of a field to protect the aquifer. By a $1 cpo too if necessary

    ReplyDelete
  4. I run a cafe in Ramsgate and I can assure you that since the airport closed there has been no improvement in business (in fact there's been a slight downturn these past two summers compared to earlier years). So obviously planes flying over do not put people off visiting the area.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. strange as many are reporting an upturn in business. Have you considered you are doing something wrong with your business model?

      Delete
    2. There's many a thriving cafe in Ramsgate with a cafe culture being heavily reported as one of Ramsgate's growing trends.
      I find the comment regarding your cafe and the airport irrelevant.
      As suggested by Mr.James, is this an issue with your particular establishment?
      Where abouts are you located as the look out does great.
      There is competition by the main sands but there's enough demand out there.

      Delete
  5. Planes flying over the towns don't put people off?? They attract them? Or perhaps more worryingly tourists have been put off by years of failing to regulate the airport...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gerry have you tried increasing your hygiene standards from your current 1 star rating? That would be a good starting point!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Personally I think the supporters have destroyed Manston. How can anyone take them seriously when they are so vile, nasty and full of hatred towards anyone who disagrees with them. Just check out MLH on FB full of childish behaviour and a pack of bullies.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think the comment by Mehmet is on the button. Any councillor that votes for the cargo hub will indeed be sacrificing the residents of Ramsgate to a life of misery under the flight path. I don't think he's a councillor though so will have no vote although not clear from this post which way he would vote if he did have a vote. From my reading of posts on various sites it's difficult to tell who actually is pro and who is not. What's your view Barry as you seem very close to this issue.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think the comment by Mehmet is on the button. Any councillor that votes for the airport is sacrificing the residents who live under the flight path. I don't believe Mehmet is a councillor though and it's not clear from his post whether if he did have a vote which way he would vote. Like many who post on the various sites it's difficult to tell if they're pro airport or just on there to follow what's happening and keep up to date. This may explain why there appear to be 9000 supporters but only 30 turn up to demos perhaps

    ReplyDelete