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MANSTON AIRPORT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF THE FIRST MEETING
HELD AT 2.30pm MONDAY 29 MARCH 1999
AT THE AIRPORT PASSENGER TERMINAL
Present: Sir Alistair Hunter Chairman
Tessa Sherriff
Secretary
Oliver Iny
Wiggins Group plc
Tony Freudmann
Managing Director -Manston Airport
Alastair Robertston
Director of Operations -Manston Airport
Mike Evans
Kent County Council
Barry Coppock
Thanet District Council
Jim Mannering
Thanet District Council
Sam Hodgson
Acol Parish Council
John Garland
Birchington Parish Council
Andrew Baker
Manston Parish Council
Ray Razzell
Minster Parish Council
Ken Gregory
Monkton Parish Council
Martin Tapp
St Nicholas Parish Council
Dennis Hart
Ramsgate
John Fisher
Canterbury
Jack Cohen
Manston Airport Group
Ian Minter
Thanet Chamber of Commerce
John Elliott
Thanet Chamber of Commerce
Apologies:
Apologies for absence were received from John Fullarton, Kent County Council.
1 Opening Statement by the Chairman Attached
2 Constitution of the Consultative Committee
The draft Constitution was discussed and various amendments were agreed.
A further draft will be tabled at the next Committee Meeting for approval.
The following items were agreed:
Membership of the Committee
The Committee shall consist of representatives of bodies from the following four groups, in balanced proportion
- owners and operators of the Airport
- users of the Airport
- regional planning authorities
- the local communities adjacent to the Airport
The Committee will be increased in number to include some of those groups which are not yet fully represented, including possibly a representative of the South East of England Development Agency. However there shall not be more than 25 bodies represented on the Committee at anyone time.
Room could not be found within this number for special interest groups ( except for the Manston Airport Group, whose special interest was the airport) or for residents' associations ( since the local community was fully represented by parish councils etc. )
Committee Meetings
The Committee shall meet four times a year .
Public Meetings with the Press in attendance be held at least once a year.
The Meetings (except possibly the Public Meetings) will be held on weekday afternoons for the time being.
Publicity
A press release be issued after the first Committee Meeting to the Kent Messenger Group of Newspapers, and local Radio Stations.
Notice and Minutes of Committee Meetings be circulated to public libraries.
The name and business address of the Secretary to the Committee be publicised through the above channels.
Appointment of Chairman and Secretary
The following appointments were approved
Chairman Sir Alistair Hunter
Secretary Mrs Tessa Sherriff
Both appointments to be for a period of three years.
It is understood that both Chairman and Secretary will be remunerated for their duties by the Airport developers.
Voting rights
Each member shall have one vote
The Chairman shall not normally vote, but shall in cases of equality exercise a casting vote
The Secretary shall not be a member of the Committee and shall have no voting right.
Creation of Sub-Committees/Working Groups
Decisions on the formation of working groups should be taken at the next meeting.
Terms of reference for working groups/sub-committees should be produced and agreed
A working group on environmental questions should be among the first established.
It might consist of eight persons as follows:
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Two from the Airport operating company.
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Two from the Regional Planning Authority.
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Four representatives of the local community with appropriate knowledge of the subject.
Members of working groups need not necessarily all be drawn from membership of the main Committee.
3 Statement by the Airport Managing Director
Tony Freudmann said that Wednesday 31 March was a historic date for RAF Manston and that the Company would be all events on that day and would be making a contribution. For reasons beyond the Company's control there had been an unexpected delay in granting a Civil Licence to operate. The granting by the CAA of an Aerodrome Licence was now expected on 31 May at the earliest. The initial licence would be for visual approach and would be replaced by a full instrument landing licence as soon as testing of the instrument landing equipment was complete. Until issue of the Aerodrome Licence, the Airport would continue to be operated by Thomsons on behalf of the MoD. The timetable imposed by the MoD for obtaining a CAA licence had been the shortest ever required of a UK airport, and Mr Freudmann expressed his delight at the achievements of Alastair Robertson [Director of Operations] and his team in difficult circumstances. Public meetings in Ramsgate and Margate had been attended, as well as and Parish meetings in areas affected by the development of the Airport, There had been some hostility and there would be a few who do not want the Airport at any price. Nevertheless, these meetings had been constructive and some of the suggestions made would be very useful. There would be more public meetings in the future. There had been suggestions of secret agendas, and suspicion by some sections of the public that Wiggins was not being open. Wiggins could assure the Committee that this was not the case, and they would be keeping the Committee up to date with all
developments. The Airport had huge potential, dependant upon budgets, noise and pollution. The Company hoped that working with the Committee would enable these issues to be monitored and controlled, Results of such monitoring would be made public. Some form of code/terms of reference needed to be introduced.
Discussion The following items were discussed:
- Noise and pollution monitoring.
- The Committee being advised -in advance -of the local press -of any plans and/or developments in hand
It was proposed to and agreed by the Developers that The Airport Developers inform the Committee of any
- developments, plans, contracts etc. that are in hand
- anticipated movement of aircraft, cargo etc.
Tony Freudmann confirmed that Air Atlanta Icelandic would be bringing a maintenance and leasing operation for passenger aircraft to Manston Airport. Air Atlanta might develop their own passenger flights. These aircraft would not be flying at night. Alastair Robertson [Director of Operations Manston Airport] informed the Committee that consultants from Manchester Airport were to visit Manston Airport in order to make an evaluation on monitoring noise and pollution. The results of this evaluation would be made public. Cllr Coppock [Leader TDC] advised that Thanet District Council collates complaints and offered they be made available to the Committee. Agreed. Cllr Hart asked whether Wiggins would be prepared to agree a Code of Conduct regarding operation of the Airport on the lines of
TDC's draft document on Environmental Safeguards, which was tabled by the Leader of the Council.
The Chairman suggested this item be tabled as a basis to start discussion once the Manchester study had been published. 4
Any Other Business John Elliott [Thanet Chamber of Commerce] felt that Committee members should declare their interests. This suggestion received some support. Thanet District Council agreed to provide guidance. 5
Next Meeting As it was felt important to get the business of the Consultative Committee on the road, it was decided that the next meeting should be sooner than three months hence. In view of impending council elections, it was agreed that the Chairman suggest two possible convenient dates for consideration and members be advised
accordingly. There being no further business the meeting closed at 5.15pm.
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