In August 2022, the UK Government gave the go-ahead for the creation of a new airport at Manston in Kent. The approval of the Development Consent Order paved the way for Riveroak Strategic Partners (RSP) to invest more than £300 million in an air freight hub and passenger terminal at the airport.
The decision followed years of campaigning by local supporters, who claim the new hub will create much needed jobs for the area and help rejuvenate the local economy, after the closure of the airport in 2014 saw the loss of around 150 jobs.
However, on 23 March, 2023 a judge granted a judicial review challenging the government’s decision to give the go ahead for the development of Manston Airport.
The judicial review application was submitted by a local Ramsgate resident, Jenny Dawes, who states on her crowdfunding page set up to challenge the development that the “re-opening of the airport would cause irreparable harm to the people, the economy, the natural environment and the heritage of the towns and villages of East Kent.”
The appeal hearing, which was held at the Royal Courts of Justice, judge Mrs Justice Lieven granted the judicial review on three points, including one on addressing climate change.
North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale described the news as “bitterly disappointing” and “simply wasting time”.
Meanwhile a statement on RSP’s website read: “We are disappointed that this will now go to a full judicial review, albeit on reduced grounds. 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.”
A previous application for a judicial review was dismissed earlier this year in January.
