Places Features

What do you think of this advert? Is it scaremongering or is it reasonable? Do you think the campaigners have taken the ad too far?

David Wimble
Do you think that planning groups are not aware how safe powerstations are? I recall a nucular flask being hit by a train at 125ph and still being intact. the reactor s within the power staion is very well protected and a plane strike would be no worse than a jet taking off from heathrow crashing into any building???? I.E School Hospital etc. London is a vastly populated area and a plane lands at Heathrow every 2 minutes and yet that is deamed safe! the Airport was in place long before the power stations and whats more was one of the busiest in the country up until the 70's... I think this is all a matter of "Not On My Doorstep". I am sure that some of the people complaining about carbon footprints etc... ahve no problem driving to Gatwick or heathrow and going on holidays and business trips.The fact that the poster depicts a plane travelling in from the sea (and not taking off or landing only goes to prove the point that this is made up rubbish. Yes a plane could hit the power station as it could the houses of parliment the odds are about the same.I say let the airport extend its run ways expand the terminal build a hotel and confrence centre, and see if it gets the business that it has projected.David wilmble Local resident with two property's one in Lydd (take Off) and one at Littlestone Landing.
Fri Nov 21 16:03:23 2008

Debbie Sims
The advert is very misleading and should be banned. If the objectors cannot make their points by fair means then they do not deserve to be taken seriously.
Fri Nov 21 13:34:58 2008

Aitch
Has everyone forgotten about Madrid airport's disaster already? The advert may be sensational, but it does not depict an impossible situation and is a timely reminder of reality.
Thu Nov 20 18:41:26 2008

Liam
xcellent poster! 911 is not the only case of an plane crashing. Planes crash all the time and for various reasons. No one knows for sure what would happen if a plane crashed into the power station. I mean, if the builders had known how to build the thing in the first place, it wouldn't have taken twice as long to complete or cost many times the budget. It would only be prudent not to fly around the area, and the poster illustrates that quite well.
Thu Nov 20 16:51:39 2008

George Charles
What rubbish! That 747 wouldn't make a dent in the reactor let alone release anything dangerous. It might stop power generation but that's all. We built it too well!
Thu Nov 20 15:47:49 2008

Wayne Milsom
I live within sight of the power station. I think an accident is highly likely. When a plane is failing due to engine failure which has happened at airports all over the world, the plane crashes where it wants to weather their is a power station in its way or not. Prevention is far better than cure
Thu Nov 20 13:14:14 2008

J.Double
These almost weekly full page adverts must cost a huge amount of money,...why not put it to good use and help fund a hospital or other useful project on the Romney Marsh
Thu Nov 20 13:12:31 2008

Clive, Kent
And we know the plane was goint to, coming from Lydd, how?Scaremongering of the worst kind. Firstly there are lot of planes in the sky, so why pick on Lydd, secondly why not a French nuclear station? Planes travel quite fast so 60 seconds means what? If a plane did crash into a nuclear power station would it matter that it took an hour to get there, or 20 minutes?
Thu Nov 20 11:02:25 2008

Pat and John Stewart
We support the advert wholeheartedly. No other country in the world would even consider expanding an airport runway to within metres of a nuclear power station. 9/11 would have been thought impossible until it happened. Why take chances/
Thu Nov 20 10:55:54 2008

Pamela
I know very little about nuclear power stations. If a plane hit Dungeness, would there be a nuclear disaster? Could it actually hit the reactor? There would be the awful loss of the workers' lives but the airport expansion protesters are just jumping on the bandwagon of peoples' fear and ignorance of anything nuclear. Unfortunately airplane accidents and terrorist incidents do occasionally happen anywhere not just near an airport whatever the size. Protesters should find more logical and less unfairly emotive arguments if they are so opposed to an expansion which would surely be of benefit to the people and economy of the area.
Thu Nov 20 10:35:55 2008

Tony Mund
I agree with Brenda that an aircraft can come down anywhere, but so can a comet, a hailstorm, a plague of locusts, or a bolt of lightning. Let's put this risk in context please. The advert is scaremongering and does absolutely nothing for the campaign in my view apart from rubbish it from self inflicted wounds
Thu Nov 20 10:11:19 2008

Bob Ellwood
It is reasonableAccidents do happen - and so did 9/11.A 'No Fly' zone is like a speed limit; it doesn't stop someone, it just tells them not to.
Thu Nov 20 09:15:30 2008

Volker Bendel, Ashford
It is scaremongering and opens up a completely different question: The airplane could have come from other places than Lydd. It might have taken off from Manston or France or be on it's way to Gatwick or having been hijacked. Maybe it is the presence of a nuclear power station that should cause the actual concern.
Thu Nov 20 08:53:23 2008

Jean Jones
This advert is totally misleading. It shows the wrong plane taking an impossible move. Misleading - no, TOTAL LIES
Thu Nov 20 08:43:04 2008

Brenda Jenner
I think that the advertistment is reasonable as an airoplane could come down anywhere. If somebody really wanted to bring a plane down they would do it as has been proved in the past. A terrible thought though.
Thu Nov 20 08:16:31 2008

Roger David
Disgraceful! The perpetrators should be "done",heavily fined and banned from flying by all airlines if they think that flying is so unsafe! I'm surprised the local press accepted the ad. unless it was done to ridicule the protestor's case, which it does.
Thu Nov 20 08:09:03 2008

Tim Crompton
Very misleading, out of preportion aeroplane flying from the wrong direction to have taken off or be landing at Lydd Airport.Trying to terrorise the local population into beleiving this could happen. I tend to think that they have no valid argument against the re-development so stoop to scare tactics.RegardsTim Crompton FLAG
Thu Nov 20 07:30:22 2008

John Francis
Judging from the angle of the plane shown, it looks like it will hit the ground before it reached the power station anyway. So no cause for alarm
Thu Nov 20 07:21:44 2008

Alan
The advert to me is "sick", plays on 9/11 and is so unlikely to happen.
Thu Nov 20 06:29:59 2008

harry matthews
This scenario by accident or design would be devastating. Large aircraft should be kept well away from such installations on Health and Safety grounds. If more runway is necessary in this area, use the one at Manston!
Wed Nov 19 18:56:21 2008

Nick Diamond
This is a disgusting advert. Win your point properly.The benefit of Lydd would be for local people as much as for the whole of Kent. Sure it is noisy around an aircraft and more important, security especially, around Dunginess is a consideration, but the authorities will address them..Why am I not sure about Lydd Airport. The infrastructure. Roads need to be improved and a proper French style compensation given to the local population made clear from the start.By the way, the cost and todays credit crunch (I hate the term) is an issue.
Wed Nov 19 18:25:23 2008