A date has been set for a judicial review which will examine the government’s decision to allow Manston to reopen as a freight air hub.

The case will be heard on February 16 and 17 at the High Court in London, with evidence put forward against Secretary of State Grant Shapp’s approval of a development consent order for airport owners RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP).

The move has enabled RSP to push ahead with plans for the air hub, which it hopes will handle at least 10,000 cargo movements per year from April 2023.

The firm also has aspirations of introducing passenger flights two years later.

But campaigner Jenny Dawes, who believes the airport will be a disaster for Thanet towns and the environment, lodged a legal bid, backed by many airport critics who have pledged more than £80,000 to her crowdfunder to pay for costs.

A judge upheld the legal challenge last month and a judicial review can now be held looking at whether the government acted lawfully in its decision to grant a DCO.

Ms Dawes, chair of Ramsgate Coastal Community Team, says the hearing will run for a day and a half.

She said: “Approval of the DCO - the first for a UK airport - went against the advice of the planning inspectorate which had concluded that ‘the airport will damage the local economy and impact negatively on the UK’s carbon budget and our commitments to the Paris Agreement’.

“The Examining Authority was composed of four senior planning inspectors who made their recommendation to refuse the DCO after one of the most intensely scrutinised examinations ever handled: an unprecedented 682 pages of written questions, 2,052 relevant representations and a further 585 additional submissions.

“Their final report exceeded 1,000 pages and made it clear the the applicant had ‘failed to demonstrate sufficient need for the proposed development, additional to (or different from) the need which is met by the provision of existing airports’.”

RSP boss Tony Freudmann said it was disappointing that a judicial review was going ahead and that it would result in a further delay to the project to reopen Manston.

But he insists the firm remains committed to the scheme, which he says will see RSP commit a £300 million investment.

RSP projects the development will create 23,000 jobs by its 20th year of operation - a claim the Planning Inspectorate said was an overestimation.

The Secretary of State noted the Inspectorate's advice, but concluded “significant economic and socio-economic benefits would flow from the development to Thanet and East Kent as well as more widely including employment creation...”

In August, Ms Dawes sent a pre-action letter demanding the government’s decision be overturned - but this was rejected by Mr Shapps.

Ms Dawes and her team submitted the judicial review application soon after. Solicitors Kate Harrison and Susan Ring of Harrison Grant and barristers Richard Wald QC and Gethin Thomas are acting for her.

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