Where should Manston's planes go?
Flight path plan resurfaces old rows, Canterbury meningitis latest, council news, and lots more
Today’s Kent Current leads with the latest Manston Airport consultation, which is formally about flight paths but in practice revives the wider argument about what reopening the airport would mean for communities in places like Ramsgate and Herne Bay. We've also got the latest on Canterbury’s meningitis outbreak, major planning decisions, and the local politics, infrastructure and community stories shaping Kent this week.
Manston consultation asks where planes would go and who would live under them
The latest consultation on the reopening of Manston Airport is, on the face of it, about flight paths.
But once you get into the details, the bigger row is not really about a choice between two dramatically different options. It is about what bringing the airport back would actually mean for people on the ground in places like Ramsgate and Herne Bay.
RiverOak Strategic Partners has opened a public consultation on the airspace changes needed for Manston’s planned return. It runs until 22 June and forms part of the Civil Aviation Authority process that must be completed before the airport can reopen. RiverOak says the airport is aiming to open in early 2029.
The company says there are two design combinations under consideration, but most of the setup is already fixed. There is one westbound departure route, one eastbound departure route, one westbound approach, and one proposed protected airspace zone around the airport. The only real choice is between two slightly different versions of the approach for planes landing from the west on Runway 10.
Both options would bring aircraft in over Herne Bay before they line up with the runway. The difference is that one approach starts a bit farther out and higher, while the other starts a bit closer in and lower. RiverOak says the practical effect is very similar either way because both options end up on the same descent path once the aircraft are lined up for landing, and in both cases, the key part of the approach lies over Herne Bay.
RiverOak has also made pretty clear which of the two it prefers. Its appraisal says Option A, the lower and shorter of the two approaches, is the preferred choice because it would have slightly lower fuel burn and carbon emissions and would keep inbound aircraft farther from Southend Airport’s controlled airspace. It says the operational difference between the options is otherwise minimal.
That means the bigger issue for most local residents is not really the fine print of Option A versus Option B. It is the wider picture of where planes would go and who would live under them.
RiverOak says Manston would operate with aircraft taking off and landing westbound about 70% of the time and eastbound about 30%, based on historical weather data. In simple terms, that means most arriving aircraft would be expected to come in over Ramsgate, while most departures would head toward Herne Bay.
And that is where the old arguments come roaring back.
The Don’t Save Manston Airport campaign has drafted a response objecting to both options and calling for a fundamental redesign instead. Its submission says the plans would mean regular low-flying cargo aircraft over densely populated parts of Ramsgate and argues that neither design should go ahead as proposed.
The campaign says aircraft would routinely overfly Ramsgate at very low altitude on departures and arrivals, and recalls the years before the airport closed when freighters overhead rattled windows, disturbed sleep and woke children. It argues that the consultation may look technical, but for residents underneath the routes, the impact would be immediate and obvious.
It also goes after the project on a broader front, arguing that the traffic forecasts behind the airspace plans still rest on assumptions that were challenged during the earlier consent process and that there is still no public evidence of a viable business plan, cargo contracts or transparent funding model behind the scale of operation now being discussed.
This wider doubt is important because this consultation is not just about lines on a map. It is where a very long-running argument stops being abstract and becomes real again.
For supporters of the airport, this is another necessary step towards reopening. For opponents, it is proof that the basic questions never went away. Not just whether Manston should come back, but whether the impacts on east Kent communities are justified by a project whose economic case is still being contested.
Meningitis outbreak latest
- The numbers have moved down rather than up. Officials now say the outbreak stands at 20 confirmed cases and nine probable cases, after some earlier cases were downgraded following further testing.
- That has prompted the first slightly more hopeful language around the outbreak, but only slightly. The UK Health Security Agency says more cases may yet be downgraded as lab work continues, while stressing it remains vigilant for any new linked cases.
- Health Secretary Wes Streeting has praised the “herculean efforts” of NHS staff, public health teams and education staff involved in the response, as the vaccination and antibiotics operation has continued at scale, with more than 9,000 vaccines and 12,500 antibiotic courses administered by Saturday evening.
- The effect on Canterbury itself has been obvious. Reporting from the city describes masks, empty restaurants, and a noticeably subdued atmosphere, with the outbreak not just becoming a public health story but also briefly reshaping everyday life in the city centre.
Council matters
By-elections:
- Sevenoaks: Halstead, Knockholt and Badgers Mount ward by-election is on Thursday. The candidates are Stephen Maines (Liberal Democrat), Tony Marshall (Conservative), George Pender (Reform) and Robert Royston (Green).
Meetings this week:
- Folkestone & Hythe: Cabinet will discuss a £2.4m grant to reopen Folkestone Sports Centre on Wednesday.
- Kent: Cabinet will meet on Thursday to discuss late changes to the budget and the medium-term financial plan.
- Dartford: Cabinet meets on Thursday to talk about a new HMO policy.
- Dover: Planning Committee will decide on 64 new homes in Kingsdown and a new holiday park in Northbourne on Thursday.
- Swale: Planning Committee will hold an extraordinary meeting on Thursday to decide on 2,500 new homes west of Bobbing.
- Thanet: Council meets on Thursday to discuss the council's tendering process and update several council procedures.
- Tunbridge Wells: Cabinet will discuss a business plan for Royal Victoria Place, household waste contracts, public space protection orders, and lots more on Thursday.
New planning applications:
- Canterbury: Proposals for a new Aldi store opposite Sainsbury's in Herne Bay.
- Dartford: Redevelopment of land on the waterfront to create three new warehouses.
- Swale: Plans for 37 new homes in Oare.
- Tunbridge Wells: Erection of 184 new homes on the current rugby club site, and relocation of sports facilities.
Kent is large, messy and often faintly absurd. The Kent Current is backed by readers, which means we can report on it properly. An annual subscription costs £1.15 a week and helps make that possible.
In brief
🚔 A Kent Police officer has died after being involved in a crash while responding to an emergency call. His colleague remains in critical condition, while a member of the public is being treated for serious injuries.
👮♂️ A police complaint has been lodged about a Margate art exhibition as being antisemitic because it criticises the actions of Israel.
😱 An utterly terrifying story from Gravesend.
Mysteriously, Kent County Council has not made a video of last week's chaotic meeting available, which ended with all opposition councillors walking out of the chamber. Videos are usually on the website within a few hours of the meeting taking place, but four days later, none has appeared for this one. Presumably just an unfortunate technical error.
Ed Jennings
👩💻 East Thanet MP Polly Billington has demanded an apology from Ramsgate Reform councillor Terry Mole after he suggested on social media that the victim of jailed councillor Daniel Taylor could be to blame.
🎥 Johnny Depp, who the High Court found had repeatedly assaulted his ex-wife, filmed scenes in Maidstone last week.
🛹 Skaters are apparently being injured by the 'cheesegrater' like surface of Ashford Skatepark.
🎭 Ashford Borough Council has unveiled plans to bring the former Odeon and bingo hall in the town back into use as a community and cultural venue.
🚫 Thanet has not made the longlist for UK City of Culture, with the government instead choosing places that are, primarily, cities.
🚛 An illegal waste site in Ramsgate has been shut down by the Environment Agency.
🗑️ Sevenoaks is one of 70 councils in the UK that didn't issue a single littering fine last year.
🍔 The former Beefeater in Gravesend is set to become, perhaps appropriately, a McDonald's.
🏛️ Municipal Dreams has been examining Tunbridge Wells Town Hall.
Property of the week
If you want Victorian coastal dominance, this is it. A Grade II listed detached marine residence on Radnor Cliff, built around 1850, with eight bedrooms and seven bathrooms, and a set of key features that reads like an estate agent seeing how far they can push it. The big brag is a mature terraced garden with direct beach access without even crossing a road, plus three garages, a boathouse, and panoramic sea views from all floors. It’s currently arranged as two large apartments after being split into flats in the early 1970s, but the listing says it can be returned to a single home, and it also comes with a separate garden studio that has been run as a holiday let. It also has full CCTV and alarm systems, because at £2.5m, you are apparently allowed to be a little paranoid.
Events this week
🎤 Fri 27 Mar - Andy Zaltzman: The Zaltgeist // Host of The Bugle podcast assesses the state of the world. Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells. Tickets £22. Also at Quarterhouse, Folkestone on 19 Apr and Hazlitt Theatre, Maidstone on 5 May.
📷 28 Mar - 31 Aug - Ocean Photographer of the Year // Exhibition of 116 award-winning photographs. Chatham Historic Dockyard. Tickets £29 (includes dockyard entry).
Footnotes
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