With the Council and the owners of Manston Airport in discussion about night flying, now is a good time to find out exactly where the people of Thanet stand on the Aiirport’s development. The Labour Party has spent nearly twelve months asking them.

First we sent out a brief questionnaire to gauge the general attitude of local people to development of the Airport. It was attached to a newsletter published by local councillors and it was distributed in Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Cliftonville and Margate. We received 641 replies.

Then we decided to find out in more detail about what people thought. About 3000 more detailed questionnaires were delivered in targeted areas and we got another 728 replies. We also put the survey on line so anyone could respond and 132 more people did so.

That means that in total, 1501 people have replied to us. The average newspaper opinion poll puts questions to fewer than 1100 people so we have more than enough answers to form a good idea of local opinion.

The results were quite clear. Asked if they support the development of the Airport 1092 people said yes, only 328 opposed its development and 81 were undecided. So, 73% of local people according to this poll support the development of the Airport. That is nearly 3 out of 4 people in Thanet.

Of course, people who live directly in the flight path might be much more worried about the Airport than people elsewhere in Thanet. To find out if this is so, many of the detailed questionnaires we sent out were delivered specifically to the neighbourhoods next to the Airport. We also re-examined the results of our first survey to extract information from people living close to the flight path.  In all, we had 626 replies just from people living on the Nethercourt Estate, Southwood and Central Ramsgate. Of these respondents 373 favoured Airport development, 177 opposed it and 76 were undecided.  That is still 60% in favour of Airport development and these are the people most affected by plane movements!

Clearly, these figures suggest the Council does indeed have local backing to encourage the development of the Airport, even in the areas most affected by noise and over flights. But there is another vital message in my figures for the Council.

Of the people who gave detailed responses 50% of the people who responded had concerns about noise and night flying. And this rises to 62% in the areas of Ramsgate most affected by these issues. Many of these people currently support the Airport but if night noise grows their support could shift.

So the message to the Council is clear. Yes, the Airport has the overwhelming backing of local people but the deal you do on night flying is crucial to that support. The airport owners may need some flexibility over operating hours but local support will soon turn into opposition if you go too far.