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