Ahh - just a change of name plate...................... still River Oak peddling a fantasy and praying they don't get permission for anything other than houses,
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After an announcement on 6 May 2014,
[7] the airport closed on 15 May 2014 with the loss of 144 jobs.
[8] When closure was announced, campaign group Save Manston Airport was formed by a local campaigner, along with other groups such as Supporters of Manston Airport, Manston Works and Save Manston Airport Association, as well as the existing Why Not Manston? group. The groups petitioned the local council,
Thanet District Council, to issue a
compulsory purchase order (CPO) to save the airport, in conjunction with a private indemnity partner. A US-based investment group, RiverOak (RSP), put forward a plan to re-open the airport, with an initial emphasis on cargo and aircraft recycling operations
[9] but the council refused, after Riveroak had failed to supply the information it required, including financial status.
[10] Riveroak now[
when?] plans to attempt the same[
clarification needed] using a
development consent order (DCO).
[11] The proposed development was temporarily renamed Stone Hill Park.
[12]
On 2 February 2015, Manston Airport was discussed in a Commons Select Committee evidence session as part of its Smaller Airports Inquiry.
[13] The committee's report was published on 9 March 2015.
[14]
In January 2016, Thanet District Council announced a new soft market-testing process to find indemnity partners for the compulsory acquisition of the former airport.
[15] The next month, the council announced that a total of five expressions of interest had been received, and after responses were received to a follow-up questionnaire, three were carried forward to the next stage of the CPO process.
[16]
In the later part of 2018, Manston Airport became part of
Operation Stack, and will be used as a queuing point for lorries using the
Port of Dover in the event the stretch of the
M20 between Junctions 8 and 11 reaches overcapacity.
[17]
On 3 July 2019 RSP informed the Planning Inspectorate that they had exchanged contracts with SHP for the purchase of the site, with completion of