A decision is now awaited following a Court of Appeal hearing on Wednesday (April 24) over the decision to dismiss an application for judicial review of the Development Consent Order for the reopening and redevelopment of Manston Airport
Lord Justice Jackson, Lord Justice Lewis and Lord Justice Warby are now considering whether to allow the appeal to go ahead.
Concluding proceedings, Lord Justice Jackson said: ‘We will give the decision as soon as we reasonably can.’ Judgements will be ‘handed out’ electronically in due course.
A bid for a Judicial Review into the decision to give the Manston airport project the go ahead was dismissed last September but claimant, Ramsgate resident Jenny Dawes, then appealed that judgement.
Ms Dawes and supporters want the airport project approval to be quashed citing reasons including a lack of need for airport services at Manston.
Airport owners RiverOak Strategic Partners want to create aviation at the site with a cargo freight hub and associated business. Construction is planned to be phased over 15 years and include 19 freight stands and four passenger stands for aircraft as well as warehousing and fuel storage.
The airport closed in 2014 with the loss of 144 jobs.
In October last year, the appeal application by Ms Dawes was refused but she then lodged an application for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
In February this year, Ms Dawes was granted permission to appeal against the dismissal of her application for Judicial Review.
The Development Consent Order application was submitted by RSP in April 2018, withdrawn and then resubmitted in July 2018. At that time Stone Hill Park planned to develop housing and leisure for the site.
The Planning Inspectorate examination for the DCO began in January 2019 and ran through to July 2019. In that July RSP bought 742 acres of the 770 acre site from Stone Hill Park for £16.5 million. Stone Hill Park withdrew its masterplan application for the site.
The Planning Inspectorate Examining Authority panel recommended that development consent should not be granted.
The Secretary of State disagreed and the DCO for the airport scheme was initially granted in July 2020 when the Department of Transport approved the application to create an air freight hub at the site.
It was quashed in the High Court in February 2021 following a legal challenge launched by Ms Dawes and supporters which resulted in the Secretary of State conceding the decision approval letter issued from the Minister of State did not contain enough detail.
Following the quashing, the Secretary of State issued a Statement of Matters in June 2021 inviting further representations from interested parties and announcing that he had commissioned an independent aviation assessor, Ove Arup, to advise him on matters relating to the need for the Development and to produce a report summarising those findings.
The DCO was granted for a second time in August 2022 by then Transport Minister Karl McCartney who disagreed with the findings of the Examining Authority report and the conclusions of the independent aviation assessor.
Ms Dawes then launched a second Judicial Review application. Since the first application for judicial review some £200,000 has been raised to pay for action through around 2000 donations.
The judicial review application was initially dismissed by Mr Justice Lane in January 2023 but then allowed on partial grounds in a review by Mrs Justice Lieven in March.
At a hearing before Honourable Mr Justice Ian Dove in July 2023 the focus was on the process for two areas -whether need for the airport was correctly assessed and whether due consideration was given to what impact the scheme might have on the Government’s ability to meet its future carbon reduction targets.
Mr Justice Dove issued judgement dismissing the application in October.
Ms Dawes then applied for permission to appeal against the judgement but this was also denied.
The application for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal was then lodged and was granted on the ground of need.
The Court of Appeal hearing took place on Wednesday but a decision is not expected to be issued for several weeks.
Following the hearing a spokesperson for RSP said: ““We feel very confident in the case we presented and now await the decision so that the development of the airport can finally move forward.”
Ms Dawes said: “In three weeks’ time, on 15 May 2024, it will be 10 years since Manston airport closed. Along with the thousands of people who have supported my campaign, I hope the judges will recognise the flawed basis on which the Secretary of State disagreed with the advice of the Examining Authority and its Independent Aviation Assessor in approving the scheme.
“There is no economic or environmental case for reopening an airport that has never succeeded and I hope that the judges’ decision will ensure this environmental blight can stay closed for good.”
