Originally Posted by
Harry Wayfarers
Right ...
I might be half a world away but I have some guests staying with me at present, he now lives in Margate but he grew up in Ramsgate, we got on to discussing what the locals think that Manston may re-open..
He explained that a new town has sprung up between Margate and Ramsgate, I think called Weston Cross, it has been specifically populated by people from the London Borough of Lewisham and there is significant local animosity regarding.
As they have been informed there are two choices for the Manston airfield site, another new town housing even more people from the London Borough of Lewisham or an airport and given the two choices they'd prefer an airport.
But ... They have been bullsh1tted that a re-opened Manston would be an alternative to a 3rd runway at LHR, my guest I was talking with imagines jetting off to wherever from a re-opened Manston whilst all we hear here are plans for it to re-open as a, pretty much, dedicated freight airport ... even though the runway isn't long enough!
So somebody is bullsh1tting both locally in Thanet and here on PPRuNe and I think we all know who ... My guest questioned "Have you heard of the American investment group behind it?", I jokingly replied "Have you heard of who the t0sser is behind that American investment group?"
Keep up the good work Doc!
I'm from Thanet and I feel you may of got some of the facts wrong... It is Westwood Cross and it has been in development since the late 90's. Primarily a retail and entertainment area,opened over 10 years ago with the housing part of it only being quite recent. It is a long way from being a town and up take has been quite limited, with most of the abandoned farm land remaining empty.
As far as people coming from Lewisham??? The whole of Thanet is populated with people from the London area, with the seaside draw being bigger than ever with the reinvention of Margate. There are only probably a few dozen houses built so far and the planned site of the school is now a supermarket. From the site you can see one of the many areas designated a business park, lying empty, but the space here is nothing compared to the large areas planned for business and industrial use next to Manston, with the first new buildings there in over 10 years.
Riveroaks plans have been well advertised in the local press, with the links we have on this forum. There have been no lies. I don't want to disrespect your guests, but they have obviously heard what they want to.
The owners plans for Manston have been little more than a map coloured in, freight has always been the main earner for Manston, with other potential following, passenger flights are planned on the same scale as ever, with the increasingly affluent, growing local population wanting the choice to connect to the world or take their holiday charter without enduring the misery of the M25 and the chaotic, in personal experience of the London airports.