Thanet Council votes to review Manston decision

Manston Airport closed just over a year ago and the site was sold for redevelopment months later

The new UKIP-led Thanet District Council is to look again at an earlier decision not to pursue a compulsory purchase of the Manston Airport site.

The council held an extraordinary meeting to decide if it should review the decision made by the previous administration.

Kent County Council has said it cannot support a compulsory purchase order on the information currently available.

The landowners said they would fight "tooth and nail" for the site.

The airport closed in May 2014 and several months later, a majority stake was sold to Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner for redevelopment.

There is an active campaign to save Manston and during the election campaign, Prime Minister David Cameron said the Conservative Party had an action plan to reopen the airport.

Thanet council leader Christopher Wells said: "There is in office a group of people who actually want to see this happen and will do everything they can to make it happen.

But he admitted: "That doesn't mean it is a certainty."

'Built on sand'

During a separate meeting on Thursday, Kent County Council leader Paul Carter said he had seen no credible proposal to restore Manston to a viable airport.

Mr Carter said neither the government nor Kent County Council could support the compulsory purchase of Manston "on the information currently available".

He said he had not been shown any business plan from RiverOak, the US Investment firm which has offered to finance a compulsory purchase order.

He said both sets of plans would need to be examined in detail before deciding on support for a compulsory purchase order, by looking at which would provide the best employment opportunities and which would best grow the local economy.

RiverOak has insisted that its plan to reopen the airport is realistic and deliverable.

Ray Mallon, spokesman for the owners of Manston said: "We will fight tooth and nail where this process is concerned. I truly believe that we will win. The whole case is built on sand."

The owners of the site want to use it for commercial and residential purposes