An appeal against the rejection of a judicial review bid to challenge a decision approving the re-opening and redevelopment of the Manston Airport site has been dismissed.
The judgment, delivered today (May 21) by Lord Justice Peter Jackson, Lord Justice Lewis and Lord Justice Warby, follows a hearing at the Court of Appeal in April.
A bid for a judicial review of the decision to give the Manston Airport project the go-ahead was rejected last September, but the plaintiff, Ramsgate resident Jenny Dawes, has appealed the ruling.
Today’s ruling means the DCO remains granted, as announced by the Department for Transport in August 2022, and RSP says recruitment can now begin for both the construction phase and operational roles once the airport is ready to reopen.
Ms Dawes and her supporters wanted approval for the airport project to be overturned on grounds including the lack of airport service needs in Manston.
Airport owners RiverOak Strategic Partners want to create an aviation, cargo hub and related business at the site. Construction is planned in stages over 15 years and includes 19 cargo bays and 4 passenger bays for aircraft, as well as storage and fuel storage.
Tony Freudmann, Director of Airport Owners RSP, said: “We have always remained committed to our proposals and unwavering in our belief that we can create something very special at Manston, providing both vital capacity for UK air cargo and sustainable economic support . East Kent.
“While the last seven years have been very frustrating at times, the fact that we have made it all the way to the Court of Appeal means that no stone has been left unturned in examining our proposals.
“We can now deliver on our plans with the confidence that we have demonstrated beyond doubt that Manston has a vital role to play in addressing the airspace capacity issues that are blighting London and the South East – and that this historic and strategically important airport can be reinvented. to meet the needs of the nation in the global market.”
RSP says the detailed planning, construction, recruitment and completion of the airspace transformation project will now take three years – with the airport ready for operations in 2027.
“Justice Assured”
Jenny Dawes, the appellant, said: “We always knew it was going to be difficult. We may not have succeeded in overturning Manston Airport’s second DCO, but importantly this decision has clarified the rules and provided some fairness for future combatants where the Secretary of State is relying on new evidence that was not consulted when re-determining a DCO. application.
“Nothing in the Court of Appeal’s decision touches on whether the Secretary of State was correct in concluding that the evidence based on the interviews, the transcripts of which have not been published, was sufficient to support his decision.
“And nothing in the decision confirms that Manston Airport is viable. The economic case for Manston Airport has not improved and concerns about climate change have not been addressed.
“I remain firmly convinced that the government’s decision to go ahead with Manston Airport, despite all the expert evidence to the contrary and the worsening climate change crisis, is senseless.”
Legal challenge
In October last year, Ms Dawes’ application was refused, but she then applied for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
In February this year, Ms Dawes was granted leave to appeal against the rejection of her judicial review application.
A development consent application was submitted by RSP in April 2018, withdrawn and then resubmitted in July 2018. At the time, Stone Hill Park had plans to develop housing and leisure for the site.
A Planning Inspectorate examination for DCO began in January 2019 and ran until July 2019. That July, RSP bought 742 acres of the 770 acre site from Stone Hill Park for £16.5 million. Stone Hill Park has withdrawn its planning application for the site.
A panel of the Planning Inspectorate’s Scrutiny Office recommended that development consent not be granted.
The Secretary of State disagreed and a DCO for the airport scheme was initially granted in July 2020 when the Department for Transport approved an application to create an air cargo hub at the site.
It was overturned in the High Court in February 2021 after a legal challenge by Ms Dawes and her supporters led to the minister admitting that the letter of approval issued by the Secretary of State for the decision did not contain enough detail.
Following the cancellation, the Minister issued a Statement of Affairs in June 2021 inviting further stakeholder representation and announcing that he had commissioned independent aviation assessor Ove Arup to advise him on matters relating to the need for development and produce a report summarizing these findings.
The doping commissioner was awarded a second time in August 2022 by then Transport Secretary Karl McCartney, who disagreed with the findings of the testing authority’s report and the conclusions of the independent aviation assessor.
Ms Dawes then launched a second application for judicial review. Since the first application for a judicial review, around £200,000 has been raised to pay for the event through around 2,000 donations.
The application for judicial review was first refused by Mr Justice Lane in January 2023, but was then allowed on partial grounds in a review by Mrs Justice Lieven in March.
At a hearing before the Honorable Mr Justice Ian Dove in July 2023, the focus of the trial was on two areas – whether the need for the airport had been properly assessed and whether due consideration had been given to the impact the scheme might have on the Government’s ability to meet its requirements. future carbon reduction targets.
Mr Justice Dove gave judgment in October dismissing the application.
Ms Dawes then applied for leave to appeal against the sentence, but this was also refused.
An application for leave to appeal was then made to the Court of Appeal and granted on the grounds of urgency.
The Court of Appeal has now rejected this appeal.
The airport closed 10 years ago this month, in May 2014, with the loss of 144 jobs.