Manston Airport, an extension of the planning decision deadline
 |
| Photo RiverOak |
A second extension of the deadline for the reopening and redevelopment of Manston Airport has been made, the altered deadline is now going to be 10 July 2020, the UK's Department of Transport confirmed this week.
The Department for Transport and Andrew Stephenson MP issued a written statement to Parliament this week, regarding the planning decision over reopening Manston Airport in Kent, as an airport by RiverOak. It had been expected by 18 May, but now they have put the decision forward to 10 July.
The written statement is as follows:
I have been asked by my Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State, to make this written ministerial statement. This statement concerns the application of 17 July 2018 made by RiverOak Strategic Partners Ltd (“the Applicant”) under the Planning Act 2008 for the proposed reopening and development of Manston Airport in Kent.
Under sub-section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State must make his decision within 3 months of receipt of the examining authority’s report unless exercising the power under sub-section 107(3) to extend the deadline and make a statement to the House of Parliament announcing the new deadline.
The Secretary of State received the examining authority’s report on the Manston Airport development consent order application on 18 October 2019 and, following an earlier extension of 4 months, the current deadline for a decision is 18 May 2020.
The deadline for the decision is now to be extended to 10 July 2020 to enable further work to be carried out before determination of the application.
The decision to set a new deadline is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant development consent.
RiverOak Strategic Partners issued a statement saying the delay was disappointing, but understandable given the current circumstances. It also cited that "this pandemic has starkly demonstrated the urgent need to address the fragility and inflexibility of the UK’s air cargo network, which currently relies almost exclusively on passenger aircraft to carry freight. We remain committed to spending £300 million on reopening Manston as a global freight hub, which would enable the airport to help the UK trade across the globe and import vital and time-sensitive goods as the nation seeks to rebuild after Coronavirus.
The case for Manston has never been stronger. It is widely accepted that demand for passenger air travel will take a number of years to return to pre-pandemic levels, if ever, whereas resilient cargo capacity has become even more urgent. As the global economy starts to re-energise and the UK, separated from the EU, negotiates trade deals around the world, Manston could be in a position to address this gap in the UK’s trading infrastructure – providing dedicated air freight capacity adjacent to the London Airports System, free of the uncertainties that face airports reliant solely, or predominantly, on the income from passenger traffic.
This delay does not affect the current CAA airspace change consultation process – which is entirely separate from the DCO – and although we will strive to meet our planned opening date, this delay is likely to result in it being pushed back.
Building a strong economic future for Kent
Manston Airport is a unique and important transport infrastructure asset in the UK. An illustrious history as a Battle of Britain airfield and, with the right commercial appetite, investment and operation, a promising future as a vibrant hub for international airfreight – one which delivers economic prosperity and employment across Kent and protects a strategic aviation resource for the nation.
Our proposal is to reopen Manston as a global freight hub, enabling the airport to fulfil its role in helping the UK trade across the globe and to import vital and time-sensitive goods, including fresh fruit and medical supplies. The air freight market is ripe for an alternative to the overcrowded London airports system. Manston’s accessibility, long runway and community support represent the strongest option available to Government to increase runway capacity in the south-east for air freight. Our analysis also tells us that Manston enjoys considerable support among airlines and freight forwarders too.
A revived Manston Airport will provide air freight operators with a realistic alternative to the overcrowded London airports, ease the considerable road congestion caused by lorries carrying freight through the channel tunnel to European airports, improve resilience and boost economic growth and jobs in Kent. Our plans seek also to attract passenger services and business aviation too, providing the people of Kent with an international airport once more. Our proposals will also create over 23,000 jobs across East Kent and the wider national economy by the Airport’s 20th year of operation.
The DCO process
Given the scale of our proposed redevelopment of Manston Airport, the plans were submitted for consideration as a ‘Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project’, as defined by the Planning Act 2008, to be granted by the Secretary of State for Transport.
In July 2016, RiverOak Investments, as we were then known, conducted a non-statutory consultation into our proposals for Manston, with six events held in the local community and feedback forms available both online and in printed form. You can read our 2016 pre-application summary document by clicking here.
More than 800 responses to the non-statutory consultation were received, with 90% of local people supporting our proposals. All of the feedback and questions received during the non-statutory consultation were factored into the development of our detailed proposals for Manston, which were published for formal, statutory consultation, along with the preliminary environmental information (PEI) report, in June and July 2017.
You can find all the 2017 statutory consultation documents by clicking here.
There were 2,200 responses to the 2017 statutory consultation. These responses were considered and the plans underwent further development. In November 2017, RiverOak announced plans to give the public a further chance to comment on its proposals to reopen Manston. This further consultation took place from 12 January 2018 to 16 February 2018. This fulfilled a number of requirements set out in the Planning Act 2008 and allowed the public and all stakeholders an additional opportunity to comment upon our proposals, which had undergone further development.
You can read the 2018 consultation documents by clicking here.
The DCO application was originally submitted to the government Planning Inspectorate (PINS) at the beginning of April 2018. It was withdrawn in early May 2019 to satisfy PINS’ requests for further information about certain parts of the application. These related to funding, to the categorisation of the project as being of national significance, and to certain aspects of the supporting environmental statements, before being resubmitted in July 2018. The Planning Inspectorate announced its decision to accept the application for examination on 14 August 2018, the first DCO application for a nationally significant airport project to be accepted for examination by the Planning Inspectorate.
In January 2019, examination of our proposals by the Planning Inspectorate got underway and, following a series of issue-specific and open floor hearings, the process closed in July – on the same day that RSP confirmed acquisition of the Manston site from Stone Hill Park.
In October 2019, it was confirmed that the DCO inspectors had issued their recommendations to the Secretary of State for Transport, with a decision initially expected from the Secretary of State in January 2020 – but subsequently delayed to May 2020 following the General Election. Also in October 2019, RSP began the process of securing approval for airspace procedures.
Following the acquisition of the Jentex site on Canterbury Road West in Ramsgate – which is designated as the location of the airport fuel facility – RSP is meeting with a wide range of other potential partners and stakeholders across Thanet and East Kent. Our aim is to answer questions people and organisations have about our proposals and explore opportunities to develop partnerships that will bring additional benefits to local people from our commitment to reopening the airport. As part of this partnership approach, RSP has created the Manston Skills and Employment Board (MSE-B) to ensure people from East Kent have the right skills to take the wide range of jobs that will be created by the reopening of Manston.
The MSE-Board considers the future employment and skills needs of the airport following DCO approval, from planning and construction through to operation. The aim of the MSE-B is to ensure that Manston and associated businesses will have access to well-trained and experienced potential employees across a diverse range of skillsets. The MSE-B will do this by ensuring a comprehensive range of services are available to young people, job seekers and employers in the area around the airport.
In addition to RSP, the MSE-B membership currently includes representatives from:
- Dover District Council
- Canterbury City Council
- Kent County Council
- EKC Group
- Canterbury Christ Church University/EDGE Hub
- Kent and Medway Skills Commission
- The Education People
- Jobcentre Plus
- Discovery Park
- Thanet and East Kent Chamber of Commerce
 |
| Manston masterplan from RiverOak. |
Recommended for you...
