Leading Light.

On the 19 July 2012, the Olympic Flame will be travelling into Thanet on its way to the Turner Contemporary. The route for the day will start in Deal at 8.27 am and will enter Thanet via Cliffsend and onto Ramsgate. From London Road at 10.13am it will travel via Grange Road, St Augustine’s Road, The Paragon, Royal Parade, Harbour Street, King Street and exit the town via Hereson Road on its way to Margate.

For the full route throughout the UK,  see here.

I am sure it will receive a great welcome from the residents of Ramsgate and let’s hope that it is a bright sunny day to cheer on the bearers for this momentous occasion.  See you there

Richborough Down

Demolition of the Richborough Power Station cooling towers and chimney took place on Sunday morning 11 March 2012 at 9am. There was an extensive crowd assembled on the Westcliff Promenade at Ramsgate to witness the event. A slight haze in the air did not spoil the view and the Royal Esplanade became a linear car park for nearly an hour.

It was great to see such a large turnout early on a Sunday morning, to see this event, which shows that the town’s residents are interested in their surroundings. There was no sign of the expected warning rocket so the first cooling tower falling took everyone by surprise and extensive clapping after all three towers and chimney bit the dust would seem to indicate that the majority were happy to see the end of this industrial landmark or "blot on the landscape", depending on your point of view.

What a difference 100 years makes.

Thanks to a lucky find on the internet and the generosity of Janet and Richard Mason, the owners of an internet site containing historic postcards of Ramsgate. Fine details of the original style of promenade shelters in Ramsgate could be gleaned from the picture taken circa 1912. This has enabled a faithful recreation of ornate ironwork on the restored shelters. The first of which is nearing completion following extensive research into the interpretation of modern materials to provide a building capable of withstanding the pressures of 21^st century life.

These buildings are amongst some of the oldest seafront shelters around the UK and it is important they are preserved for use by future generations. A rolling programme from East to West of the promenade has now commenced to complete all the renovations before the deadline on the grant application of November 2012. Grateful thanks goes to the Heritage Lottery Fund together with Thanet District Council for facilitating the main Townscape Heritage Initiative grant for restoration. Also thanks to all the individuals and organisations in the town that sponsored and donated to the shelters project. Further donations and sponsorship will still be needed for completion.

You may be asking why we do this and the answer is “because Ramsgate is worth it”. Let us hope it is just the start of many good projects for the future of the town

have your say TODAY

The Thanet District Council night flights consultation started last Friday and continues until 2 March 2012, details of which can be found here.

If you are concerned about de-restriction of planes landing at Kent International Airport between the hours of 11pm in the evening and 7am in the morning, please send your concerns into the consultation, by post or email, quoting your name, full address and postcode.

If you would like to know more details about some of the planning issues surrounding the airport please refer to my previous posts

A Section 106 agreement is NOT an ongoing planning permission

Night Flight Consultation Response.

Planning Loopholes.

LDC,s

A Section 106 agreement is NOT an ongoing planning permission

The Section 106 agreement under planning legislation is used to define developer/owner/operator contribution to the local surroundings affected by a proposed development, if or when a planning permission is granted. It is not in itself an ongoing planning permission and is restricted to implementation in association with the granted permission

This raises the question as to whether it is appropriate to sign a Section 106 agreement in conjunction with a Certificate for Lawful Development (LDC) and that also poses a further question whether a previous Section 52 agreement attached to a real planning approval can be varied by a Section 106 agreement attached to an  LDC.

I do not profess to be an expert in planning law but from my continued association with planning legislation over 45 years, I have never experienced a Section 106 agreement used in this manner and quoted as the panacea for any and every change at Manston Airport.

If Thanet District Council don’t have the courage to challenge this inappropriate use of a Section 106 agreement, then I feel the residents affected by airport expansion should challenge the situation in court.

The Night Flight consultation commencing tomorrow is a good opportunity for local residents to make the local authority aware that they are not pleased with the way these planning matters have been handled and insist that the whole situation be regularised through the norms of the planning system.

Night Flight Consultation Response

It is astonishing that in the 21^st century a substantial installation such as Manston Airport should continue to exist on the basis of planning loopholes. Namely, Certificates of Lawful Development (LDCs) which only establish that a certain planning use was subsisting at the time of granting the certificates. To intensify such a use over succeeding decades must surely be brought into question and subjected to open scrutiny in the form of application for planning permission.

Planning legislation states that “intensification“ can only be the grounds for a planning application if a “material change of use” can be proved.  In the case of Manston Airport the “intensification” is in the form of a night flying proposal which proposes to increase the number of flights landing between 11pm and 6 am. The stated use of such flights is to provide an opportunity for out of hours freight flights.

Passenger operations at the airfield are currently declining from the withdrawal of scheduled flights to Manchester and Belfast, followed by a withdrawal of the only remaining scheduled service at the airport, the Edinburgh route operated by FlyBe, coinciding with an announcement by Flybe that it will be ceasing operations from Manston in March 2012. With the reduction of passenger flights and an increase in freight flights, Manston Airport is changing from a commercial airport with freight services, as stated in their Master-plan and the original LDCs, to a freight airport with occasional passenger flights.  Each of these uses would fall separately into the “Sui Generis” planning use category and therefore constitute a “material change of use”.

A simple example can illustrate this fact. If a developer purchases an assembly room, normally used for the congregation of people and decides to change it into a storage warehouse for the congregation of goods, this would constitute a “material change of use” Thanet District Council is therefore within it's rights to insist on the submission of a planning application in support of the night flight proposal to examine the material change of use constituted by the intensified use of the airport for handling freight.

It is incumbent upon the local authority to take back the high ground in this planning matter at a crucial point in the evolution of Manston Airport. Unless this substantial installation which affects the lives of so many people in Thanet, is subjected to the same planning scrutiny as the normal householder, the impartiality of the local authority will always be under question.

A planning application in this matter would provide a suitable platform for the transparent examination of night flights, intensification, change of use, noise nuisance, noise monitoring, pollution, pollution monitoring, airport safety zones and the effectiveness of controlling an airport using a 106 agreement. This is what is necessary to satisfy affected local residents that their legitimate rights and concerns have been adequately considered.

Name of respondent………………………………………..

Address……………………………………………………

Tel…………………………………………………………..

Email………………………………………………………..

Date………………………

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