Manston Airport
Discussion
Be interesting to know if when Mrs Gloag purchased it the contract included a claw back in the event she closed and sold it. If not she will have done very well.
Must admit what seems strange is that we are busy looking for a new runway in the south east, whilst in the meantime theres a huge great runway in Manston doing nothing. Equally its closed apparently because there is no demand, whilst at the same time Lydd is expanding.
Its all odd, and who is going to want to do business or live in Manston? Takes so long to get anywhere, mind you in that case why use it as a third runway.
Must admit what seems strange is that we are busy looking for a new runway in the south east, whilst in the meantime theres a huge great runway in Manston doing nothing. Equally its closed apparently because there is no demand, whilst at the same time Lydd is expanding.
Its all odd, and who is going to want to do business or live in Manston? Takes so long to get anywhere, mind you in that case why use it as a third runway.
Latest local rumour has it that a covenant exists that if it stops being used as an airport it must revert to farmland .
It is probably just myth but if other local legends are true building on the land is going to be fun.(tunnels, vast quantities if buried equipment toxic and radioactive waste)
It is probably just myth but if other local legends are true building on the land is going to be fun.(tunnels, vast quantities if buried equipment toxic and radioactive waste)
grumpy52 said:
Latest local rumour has it that a covenant exists that if it stops being used as an airport it must revert to farmland .
It is probably just myth but if other local legends are true building on the land is going to be fun.(tunnels, vast quantities if buried equipment toxic and radioactive waste)
When I worked for the environment agency, the guys there said that Manston Airport was pretty much the most pooluted place in the south east. At the time they had a big investigation in cliffsend using boreholes to check there was no chance of contamination of the water table due to all the nasties in the ground on the airport site.It is probably just myth but if other local legends are true building on the land is going to be fun.(tunnels, vast quantities if buried equipment toxic and radioactive waste)
Edited by lufbramatt on Wednesday 24th September 22:30
Chrisgr31 said:
Must admit what seems strange is that we are busy looking for a new runway in the south east, whilst in the meantime theres a huge great runway in Manston doing nothing. Equally its closed apparently because there is no demand, whilst at the same time Lydd is expanding.
Its all odd, and who is going to want to do business or live in Manston? Takes so long to get anywhere, mind you in that case why use it as a third runway.
People keep coming up with this (although you've obviously seen the flaw in your own reasoning) and I don't understand why. Manston is 75 miles by road from central London. I know that not all of the airport demand in the south-east is from central London, but it gives you an idea of how far east it really is. Go 75 miles west of London and you'll nearly be at Swindon. Public transport links don't make it any more viable. People also say how it's "the longest runway in the UK" which, if you're a geek, or have access to Google, discover to be nonsense. It's long compared to most regional airports, but unsurprisingly, Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester beat it in this regard. Its all odd, and who is going to want to do business or live in Manston? Takes so long to get anywhere, mind you in that case why use it as a third runway.
My opinion is that if an existing site has to be developed, Stansted presents the path of least resistance. The designs for more runways there make much less impact on the surroundings than at Heathrow or Gatwick, because there's less in the way. The airport layout has been designed with expansion in mind, and would be relatively easy to add to. There are half-decent existing rail and road links that surely would be easier to improve than starting from scratch elsewhere. If someone was willing to be really bold, Crossrail could be extended North after Brentwood (I know that putting 20 miles of railway across Essex would be an enormous undertaking). You then end up with both your major airports connected by one line.
Edited by Prawo Jazdy on Saturday 11th October 15:47
Prawo Jazdy said:
People keep coming up with this (although you've obviously seen the flaw in your own reasoning) and I don't understand why. Manston is 75 miles by road from central London. I know that not all of the airport demand in the south-east is from central London, but it gives you an idea of how far east it really is. Go 75 miles west of London and you'll nearly be at Swindon. Public transport links don't make it any more viable. People also say how it's "the longest runway in the UK" which, if you're a geek, or have access to Google, discover to be nonsense. It's long compared to most regional airports, but unsurprisingly, Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester beat it in this regard.
My opinion is that if an existing site has to be developed, Stansted presents the path of least resistance. The designs for more runways there make much less impact on the surroundings than at Heathrow or Gatwick, because there's less in the way. The airport layout has been designed with expansion in mind, and would be relatively easy to add to. There are half-decent existing rail and road links that surely would be easier to improve than starting from scratch elsewhere. If someone was willing to be really bold, Crossrail could be extended North after Brentwood (I know that putting 20 miles of railway across Essex would be an enormous undertaking). You then end up with both your major airports connected by one line.
+1My opinion is that if an existing site has to be developed, Stansted presents the path of least resistance. The designs for more runways there make much less impact on the surroundings than at Heathrow or Gatwick, because there's less in the way. The airport layout has been designed with expansion in mind, and would be relatively easy to add to. There are half-decent existing rail and road links that surely would be easier to improve than starting from scratch elsewhere. If someone was willing to be really bold, Crossrail could be extended North after Brentwood (I know that putting 20 miles of railway across Essex would be an enormous undertaking). You then end up with both your major airports connected by one line.
Edited by Prawo Jazdy on Saturday 11th October 15:47
It would seem that the one company really interested in taking it on want to develop it more for cargo use , which is what most of the aircraft use Manston for in the past .
It is nice to arrive at an airport and be home drinking tea twenty minutes later .
As for the distance from London, we have dual carriageway from the perimeter to London and high speed rail links ,
It is nice to arrive at an airport and be home drinking tea twenty minutes later .
As for the distance from London, we have dual carriageway from the perimeter to London and high speed rail links ,
I agree. When I lived in Cardiff I loved being able to use the airport there and be minutes from home on return. I'm all for regional airports and it's a shame that some are dying. It's a tough industry though, and despite relative proximity to HS1, I don't think Manston has enough going for it to make it a contender for next Big Airport.
Prawo Jazdy said:
My opinion is that if an existing site has to be developed, Stansted presents the path of least resistance. The designs for more runways there make much less impact on the surroundings than at Heathrow or Gatwick, because there's less in the way.
There's virtually nothing in the way for a second runway at Gatwick, the land was set aside and kept empty for a new runway decades ago. el stovey said:
There's virtually nothing in the way for a second runway at Gatwick, the land was set aside and kept empty for a new runway decades ago.
Fair enough. I hadn't realised there was room for a terminal between the runways, which makes it a better plan. Anyway, I've inadvertently drifted a long way from Kent International, for which I apologise.el stovey said:
There's virtually nothing in the way for a second runway at Gatwick, the land was set aside and kept empty for a new runway decades ago.
There might not be anything physically in the way but the residents of the local area are not going to be best pleased. That wouldn't matter elsewhere in the world but here we listen to NIMBY's and pander to them at the expense of the nation as a whole.There's also the ATC issue. London has many very busy airports crammed into a very small patch of the country. It's one of the factors that makes Manston and Lydd unsuitable as busy regional airports and Boris island near unworkable. These issues can of course be overcome but I refer back to the NIMBY's and associated costs.
djc206 said:
There might not be anything physically in the way but the residents of the local area are not going to be best pleased. That wouldn't matter elsewhere in the world but here we listen to NIMBY's and pander to them at the expense of the nation as a whole.
There's also the ATC issue. London has many very busy airports crammed into a very small patch of the country. It's one of the factors that makes Manston and Lydd unsuitable as busy regional airports and Boris island near unworkable. These issues can of course be overcome but I refer back to the NIMBY's and associated costs.
Living 20 miles or so from Gatwick we have all the NIMBYs around. Huge numer of people complaining about aircraft noise etc. I really dont understand it as very rarely notice them flying overhead. Mind you the NIBMY meeting is on a weekday in working hours. Guess that says it all!There's also the ATC issue. London has many very busy airports crammed into a very small patch of the country. It's one of the factors that makes Manston and Lydd unsuitable as busy regional airports and Boris island near unworkable. These issues can of course be overcome but I refer back to the NIMBY's and associated costs.
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