I recently attended the RSP’S consultation in Ramsgate, and am now asking you, if it could be re-held. And this time in a more professional manner.
I was expecting a presentation, and then an opportunity for the audience to ask questions and get real answers.
Instead we were confronted with a farce:
A room full of RSP representatives, who had clearly not all been briefed on what the answers to key questions should be, prior to the meeting. Therefore on the question of Night Flights, the answers were conflicting.
No information on the noise levels over Ramsgate, was available, as apparently It is not ready yet. Surely this should be a key content of the presentation.
The main wall had a large map of Manston, and its surrounding area, but did not include most of Ramsgate. Yet the maps showing the planned flight paths over Ramsgate and Herne Bay, (attached) were A3 sheets tucked way in a corner. These should have been at the centre of the consultation.
Apparently all the documents available for inspecting, on one side of the room, were still only drafts. So still 'work in progress', and therefore changeable.
By the time I heard from one visitor, that the runway on the architectural model at the centre of the room, could be facing the wrong way – I was not surprised.
I and many others, live directly under the proposed flight path, and our life's and the value of our properties, will be seriously blighted if this proposed airport happens. Which raises the issue of compensation.
Therefore the fact that I (and many others) received no invitation, and only found out about the meeting, from the local paper, might be due to incompetence, but could also be seen as corrupt.
RSP need to treat the residents of Ramsgate with respect, and re visit the consultation process in a truly transparent and professional manner.

There is no mechanism through which the Planning Inspectorate can influence an Applicant’s consultation at the Pre-application stage of the PA2008 process. The Planning Inspectorate therefore cannot compel an Applicant to re-hold a consultation event.
If you have not done so already, please provide your comments to the Applicant and your local authority. Local authorities have a special role in the PA2008 process, which I explain in the content of this advice.
The PA2008 places a number of duties on Applicants in respect of Pre-application consultation and all applications for development consent must be accompanied by a ‘Consultation Report’. The Consultation Report is prepared under section 37 of the PA2008 and must give details of:
a) what has been done in compliance with sections 42, 47 and 48 of the PA2008 in relation to an application;
b) any relevant responses; and
c) the account taken of any relevant responses.
In the Acceptance period (ie the 28 days following the formal submission of an application) the Planning Inspectorate will scrutinise all of the application documents, including the evidence provided in the Consultation Report, applying the statutory tests set out in s55 of the PA2008. By the end of the Acceptance period the Planning Inspectorate (on behalf of the Secretary of State) must decide, in accordance with the tests in s55 of the PA2008, whether or not an application is of a satisfactory standard to be examined.
In reaching the above decision, s55(4) makes explicit that the Planning Inspectorate must have regard to the Consultation Report and any Adequacy of Consultation Representations made by local authority consultees. Adequacy of Consultation Representations are defined by s55(5) of the PA2008 as representations about whether the applicant complied with its duties under sections 42, 47 and 48. They are requested from all relevant local authorities on receipt of an application for development consent.
To that end, in providing your comments to your local authority they may be considered in the Council’s preparation of its Adequacy of Consultation Representation; if an application is submitted to the Planning Inspectorate.
I suspect that the documents made available for inspection by the Applicant at the consultation event comprised its Preliminary Environmental Information (PEI). For Environmental Impact Assessment development (EIA), Applicants are required to consult with the local community about their PEI. Advice about the content of an Applicant’s PEI is provided in our ‘Advice note seven: Preliminary Environmental Information, Screening and Scoping’, available here: attachment 1
In respect of night flights, the Planning Inspectorate has access to the same information as the local community and statutory consultees ie the Applicant’s Scoping Report states at paragraph 11.6.10 that “The airport will be operational during the day and may be operational to some extent at night. The noise generated due to this activity may give rise to potentially significant effects”. If night flights are proposed for the airport, the likely significant effects will need to be assessed by the Applicant as part of its EIA and presented in the Environmental Statement.
In respect of compensation claims, please refer to extant advice available here: attachment 2