As part of the Development Consent Order, RSP has compulsory acquisition powers over several small parcels of land, necessary to complete aspects of the redevelopment – for example to facilitate improvements to road junctions.
The compulsory purchase order originally also included the airport itself and, as part of the negotiations, at the-then owner’s request we agreed that the standard five-year timeframe which applies to the completion of compulsory acquisitions could be reduced to twelve months. In the event, the former owners decided to sell the freehold of the airport to RSP within the following 12-month period (in 2019), and so this agreement proved unnecessary.
However, the reduced twelve-month completion timeframe remains in force on the remaining small parcels of land and, as part of the enabling works prior to construction getting underway, RSP intends to align the use of these compulsory acquisition powers with the planned timetable for redeveloping and reopening Manston.
RSP is therefore applying to the Department for Transport to return the timing of compulsory acquisitions agreed in the DCO back to the original, standard five-year timeframe – the only other option available.
This is known as a ‘non-material’ change, but it is nonetheless important to the reopening process as it allows RSP to make each acquisition in line with the relevant phase of the construction work, rather than having to make them all within a short, twelve-month period unnecessarily.
This application is subject to a standard 30-day public consultation process, which will begin on 29 March 2025, following the publication of information about the application in local newspapers, over ten days, beginning tomorrow, Wednesday 19 March.