Bircham Dyson Bell, solicitors for RiverOak, have today sent a letter to Madeline Homer, Chief Executive of Thanet Council, highlighting the RiverOak professional team’s concerns both with the methodology and findings of Avia Solutions report and the manner in which it is being considered by the council in connection with the Local Plan process.

George Yerrall of RiverOak said: “This letter sets out very clearly the collective concerns of our experienced professional consultants, together with those of the RiverOak team, that this report is unsafe to rely on for Local Plan purposes. Not only are there numerous examples of basic, factual errors and questionable methodology, the report’s author also chose to ignore six respected and publicly available air freight studies in reaching their conclusions. Given the importance of Manston to the Local Plan process this letter also highlights a number of ways in which Thanet Council does not appear to be following proper process in respect of either the scrutiny of this report, or the wider assessment of Manston’s future role in the local economy.”

Please click hereto read the letter, which has also been sent to all Thanet Council members.