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MANSTON AIRPORT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE PRESENT Observers: Apologies The Chairman welcomed Members who had not been present at the last meeting; also (as observers) Trevor Herron and Brian Lear from Thanet District Council, and Alan Melrose, Management Consultant from Manchester Airport pIc. 1. MINUTES The Minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 1999 having been previously circulated, were approved and signed by the Chairman as a true record. 2. MATTERS ARISING 2.1 Publicity: The Chairman confirmed that publicity arrangements agreed at the last meeting were in place. The Secretary's letter informing the public of the Committee's contact details had been published in two local newspapers. 2.2 Membership: a) It was AGREED that Dover City Council be represented on the Committee. Cllr John Bragg was welcomed as their representative to full membership. b) It was agreed that airlines using the Airport needed urgently to be involved in the Committee's deliberations. There was debate over whether several of the current users (e.g. MK, Dasair, Air Atlanta Icelandic) could be invited to join the Committee, even on an interim basis, without setting an awkward precedent vis-à-vis future users. Alastair Robertson announced that an airport users' group would shortly be formed, and that its chairman would be an airline representative. It was decided to invite the chairman of that group to join the Committee. c) Cllr Dennis Hart said that fire service employees and ground personnel would need to be represented on the Committee. It was AGREED to explore this. d) The CPRE (Council for the Protection of Rural England) had again sought representation on MACC. Members recalled their decision that, to prevent the Committee getting too large, no special interest groups should be invited to join it except the Manston Airport Group (whose special interest was the airport). They decided to adhere to this line, and the Secretary was asked to write to CPRE accordingly. 3. PRESENTATION BY ALAN MELROSE, Management Consultant, Manchester Airport PLC. Mr Melrose presented the first draft of his report: London Manston Airport Aircraft Noise Monitoring, Complaints Handling and Air Quality Monitoring Review. Mr Melrose emphasised that the report was very much in draft form. It was not an answer, more of a shopping list, and a map for the next 3-5 years. As far as he could he had taken the location of Manston into consideration, but his suggestions would need to be interpreted in a way that related to the locality. What was right for Manchester would not necessarily be right for Manston. He asked members to take the report away for study, and within the next 10 days make representations to him. Mr Melrose hoped that the Report would be finalised by the end of July. 4. RESPONSE BY TONY FREUDMANN Mr Freudmann, for the Wiggins Group, stated that the draft report was the culmination of comments he had made at public meetings. Wiggins had said they would commission a report, would pay (or it and would show the final results to the public. Wiggins were content with the recommendations that were likely to emerge, and were keen to implement measures to reassure the local community. They must form a partnership with the local community. Mr Freudmann confirmed that the company would enter into a Section 106 agreement but (as Mr Melrose had explained) the specifics to which the agreement would relate needed to be made a little clearer. They planned to talk with Thanet District Council on this matter. The Chairman thanked Alan Melrose for a realistic report. A Working Group was to be formed to ensure that the recommendations would be taken forward. (see item 8) 5. UPDATE ON AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT Tony Freudmann reported that unforeseen late difficulties had arisen but would not hold up the timetable for conversion from a military aerodrome. There was now a full complement of staff, but more work needed to be done on ground transport, rail links, etc. He hoped by the next Meeting to have the first draft of the Manston masterplan. EU funding was being sought to support the Plan, and the issues would be brought back to the Committee. Discussions with passenger airlines were taking place, and a facelift to the Airport was planned. Leigh Herington, KCC, stated that Kent County Council would like to be involved with TDC and Wiggins on the Master Plan as they have to develop the Kent Transport Plan, to be completed by Summer 2000. At this point, Mr Freudmann handed over to Alastair Robertson who reported on the current stages of development as follows:-
Cllr Dennis Hart asked about pollution from aircraft standing on grass seeping into the water table. Mr Robertson stated that there were plans to move the maintenance area and increase apron size, with drainage upgrade to be included. 6. COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE Lists of complaints logged by Thanet District Council and Manston Airport Group had been circulated. Alastair Robertson explained the current procedure at the Airport for responding to complaints, of which there had been six in two months. Mr Robertson apologised for not replying to some letters, but hoped to redress this in future. The Chairman reminded Members that both DETR guidance and the Alan Melrose report stated the necessity for the establishment of a dedicated complaints telephone facility and said this should be a priority for the Working Group. There was discussion as to whether Thanet District Council should be involved in responding to complaints, as well as the Airport management. It was agreed that usually only the Airport had the knowledge to respond, But it was politically necessary for TDC to be kept informed and to be able to intervene when needed. Brian Lear said the Council had been happy to register complaints and would continue to do so. It was AGREED that the setting up of a Complaints Procedure be considered further when the Melrose report had been studied. 7. CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMITTEE The amended Constitution of Manston Airport Consultative Committee having been previously circulated, was accepted. 8. FORMATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP Terms of Reference were agreed as follows:
The Chairman suggested that the Working Group should be kept small, and its members appointed mainly for the knowledge and experience they could contribute. He suggested as members:
The Chairman and Secretary of the Committee offered to perform the same services for the Working Group. This membership was AGREED. Mr Fisher suggested that Canterbury CC be represented, and Cllr Coppock recommended Cllr Jillings who had relevant expertise. It was AGREED that Mr Fisher and Cilr Jillings should receive Working Group papers and be co-opted to meetings as required. Other technical experts (including from KCC) could also be co-opted at the Chairman' s discretion. 9. DECLARATION OF MEMBERS' INTERESTS After discussion it was AGREED that no formal procedure was required at present, but the matter could be raised again by any Member at a later date if so desired. 10. ANY OTHER BUSINESS 10.1 Transport: John Elliott, Pfizer Ltd, briefly outlined the East Kent Access plan for the A256 north of Pfizer which was to be submitted to Government. Trevor Herron stated that TDC had been advising Wiggins re consultants to produce a Transport Plan covering public transport, rail access etc. and this needed to be addressed in the next two months. Parties agreed to discuss this. 10.2 Publicity: Wiggins Group had offered the services of Phb Public Relations, consultants to the Wiggins Group, to issue a press release after the meeting. It was pointed out that Phb had good access to the media, and Mr Freudmann said Wiggins would not seek to influence the contents of the release. It was AGREED the offer be gratefully accepted in view of difficulty experienced in getting news items published. 11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next full Committee Meeting would be held in late September, the precise date to be advised. The December meeting would be open to Press and public. There being no further business, the meeting closed at 5.30pm. MINUTES.6.99 |