Plans to develop a cargo hub at Manston Airport in the UK were back in court earlier this month, with the development consent order facing a judicial review, reports HLPFI’s sister publication Air Cargo News.
The airport owners, RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP), gained a consent order to develop the hub in August 2022. An appeal was dismissed in January of this year but was later allowed based on four points: the use of reports without underlying evidence; the requirement to demonstrate whether there is a need for the airport; whether growth could be catered for at other airports; and climate change.
Local resident Jenny Dawes, who is leading the campaign against the airport in Kent, said: “This judicial review will focus on just two areas, need and climate change, making it very much in tune with the times and with the Climate Change Committee’s 2023 Progress Report to Parliament.
“The report recommends making the National Planning Policy Framework consistent with net zero and calls for a suite of policy and technology options to address aviation demand while stressing the need for a framework to manage airport capacity.”
When the appeal was approved in March, RSP said the claims were “delaying tactics”.
“There is no basis for the claims made by the applicant, and this is simply a further delaying tactic – frustrating the shared desire of RSP and the government, together with numerous local authorities, members of parliament, businesses, communities and other stakeholders – not to mention thousands of supporters of the airport – to see Manston return to operational use as an international freight hub for London and the Southeast, delivering new economic and employment opportunities for the people and organisations of East Kent and beyond,” RSP said.
The GBP500 million (USD645.6 million) plans for the airport included 19 stands capable of handling widebody freighters as well as a 65,500 sq m cargo facility.
This is not the first time that the granting of a development consent order for Manston has been subject to an appeal and in 2021, the Department for Transport withdrew from a judicial review in order to gather more information to bolster its case for the development.
Originally an RAF base, Manston Airport has been used periodically for charter and passenger flights but has historically suffered from underuse in the face of competition from other UK airports and was closed in 2014. The runway measured 2,748 m in length and 230 m in width but could not support the sector’s largest aircraft when fully laden.
A final legal ruling on whether the decision to allow permission for Manston Airport to reopen was lawful is not expected to be made for another few months.
