It was, of course, 1100 acres until Tony Freudmann sold off 300 acres to finance the change from Wiggins to Planestation which so spectacularly failed in 2005 taking with it millions of pounds of investment much of it from locals sweet talked into parting with their cash by buying shares in their local airport.
Late in 2005 the Trustee in Bankruptcy sold the site to a New Zealand company Infratil and that is where this timeline starts
2009
"In 2009, following the potential start of dedicated cargo operations by British Airways World Cargo, Thanet District Council (TDC) requested Manston Airport (MSE) to develop and submit to the council a Night-time Flying Policy (NTFP) pursuant to clauses 1.2 and 1.3 of the Second Schedule to the Section 106 agreement dated 26 September 2000 between TDC and MSE. An initial outline was presented on 17 August 2009, which was subsequently further developed, with a full submission being made on 28 September 2010."
"The report also commented on the impact that this limit on night-time operations would have on the financial viability of the airport. It noted that
“if the Airport cannot be made profitable with the restricted operations, then its long term future may be put in jeopardy, along with all the jobs and GVA created by it locally.” from the report to Cabinet 2011
So to assess what the residents felt about a maximum of 659 night time movements (as per report by Thanet Council) in 2011 TDC asked for peoples opinion and of the 3000 replies the majority (over 70%) were AGAINST night flights.
Thanet Council voted against allowing Night Flights and Infratil retaliated by putting Manston up for sale in December 2011
22 months later it was finally offloaded to Ann Gloag having failed to find a new operator
October 2013: Infratil announce the sale of Manston airport to Stagecoach tycoon Ann Gloag for a nominal £1, plus accrued debts of around £17M.
November 2013: Ann Gloag’s Manston Skyport takes over the airport. At the same time it seems Annax Aviation approached TDC's planning department enquiring whether there was scope to build 1000 (some say 2000) homes on the Northern Grass's pre ww2 grass runway to the North of the runway. Who was Annax Aviation?
So where was "our Tone" going to find the money to finance buying Manston?
It is understood that he did approach the new owner but was rebuffed and it soon became obvious that the £10000 losses a day were focussing the new owner's mind and
March 2014: Ann Gloag announces plans to close the airport and so Tony tried again this time using the company run by Steven DeNardo Riveroak LLP based in Delaware, USA whom, it is said, he met at a business meeting in Canary Wharf.
May 15, 2014: The airport closes with the loss of 144 jobs. An offer of the full £7million asking price for the site by US firm RiverOak Corporation is refused. The payment was offered in a deal where Ann Gloag was asked to leave Skyport’s £2million in the bank account making a net £5million offer.
August 2014: TDC issue a formal notice and the process of finding an indemnity partner for the Manston CPO begins
September 2014: The site has new owners – Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner of Discovery Park.
December 2014: The Labour controlled council decide not to proceed with a CPO stating there was not a suitable indemnity partner. Even though Riveroak LLP was the only indemnity Partner left in the running and, the then leader of TDC, was fully in favour of the CPO. Riveroak failed to convince TDC they had sufficient money to fully protect the council. Oddly ROLLP were a property development company with no track record in airports but they had in "buying distressed property and adding value"
So what did they send TDC which scared off the Labour administration?
Their business spreadsheet showed their various funds has potential spare equity of $20M and then there was the line of credit amounting to $400K
It is hardly surprising then that TDC got cold feet
February and March 2015: Transport Select Committee looks at the Manston airport issue as part of its examination of smaller UK airports. The result was that Manston was considered and rejected.
May 2015 the local elections led to an overwhelming vote for the UKIP party winning 33 seats and overall control of TDC. Chris Wells stated that in was about time Thanet was taken in a new direction and because one element of their manifesto was to try again and find an Indemnity Partner to take back the airport.
As soon as he took control Chris instigated the process to find this Partner and again Riveroak took part. Chris promised to look again so he kept the manifesto promise. Yet did Riveroak do the same?
October 2015: The planning application for change of use of airport buildings is refused.
The same month TDC Cabinet agree to take no further CPO action on Manston saying RiverOak do not meet the indemnity requirements.
So what went wrong? All the stars were aligned yet once again Riveroak failed dismally. It seems the same problem that had gone wrong in December 2014 had happened once again with Riveroak failing to convince TDC that they had the money required.
November 2015: Thanet council again announces a further soft marketing exercise for Manston airport
December 2015: It was announced that RiverOak would undertake a Development Consent Order (DCO) process to acquire permission from central government to reopen the airport
February 2016: Thanet District Council announced a total of five expressions of interest had been received, with three being carried forward to the next stage of the CPO process
8 July 2016 Riveroak Strategic Partners (and associated companies) were incorporated at Companies House. However Riveroak LLP (based in Delaware) was used as the vehicle for the DCO (Development Consent Order)
October 2016: AviaSolutions publishes its report, commissioned by Thanet council at a cost of £50,000, into the viability of Manston’s future. The conclusion of the report was ‘airport operations at Manston are very unlikely to be financially viable in the longer term and almost certainly not possible in the period to 2031’.
Thanet council say the report means the authority does not have sufficient evidence to continue to designate the site ‘for aviation use only’ within its Local Plan.
MP Sir Roger Gale says he will quit politics if Manston does not reopen as an airport
June 2016: A report to Thanet council Cabinet members on the latest round of soft market testing concludes: “Cabinet note the results of the soft market testing assessment and take no further action in respect of the interested parties.” This just leaves Riveroak and Tony Freudmann the sole hope for the airport to be resurrected with their DCO.
February 2017 An application was made to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for an aerodrome licence
Note this includes Night Flights and for Cargo (ultimately this application fails in 2018 due to non-payment of the requisite fee)
In December 2016 it becomes apparent that Riveroak LLP and Stephen DeNardo have been removed from the DCO process as three new directors Nicholas Rothwell, Rico Seitz and Gerhard Huesler are added. (These are partners in Helix Fiduciary based in Switzerland and who are mentioned in the Panama Papers).
Why Stephen DeNardo and RO LLP are removed in unknown to this time.
April 2017: RSP threatens legal action over an email which RiverOak Strategic Partners Ltd (RSP) say Cllr Wells sent to 35 members of the authority and which, they say, contained defamatory allegations against RSP and M.I.O Investments.
"I
understand Belize is one of 14 Caribbean nations named by the US as
“major money laundering” countries in the 2016 International Narcotics
Control Strategy Report (INCSR) released by the US State Department.
According to the report, a major money laundering country is defined as one “whose financial institutions engage in currency transactions involving significant amounts of proceeds from international narcotics trafficking”.
The report notes that Belize is not a major regional financial center but has a substantial offshore financial sector. It also notes that Belize is a transshipment point for marijuana and cocaine, and states that human trafficking is also a concern for the country.”
What else would you like us to note?
Regards
Chris Wells"
According to the report, a major money laundering country is defined as one “whose financial institutions engage in currency transactions involving significant amounts of proceeds from international narcotics trafficking”.
The report notes that Belize is not a major regional financial center but has a substantial offshore financial sector. It also notes that Belize is a transshipment point for marijuana and cocaine, and states that human trafficking is also a concern for the country.”
What else would you like us to note?
Regards
Chris Wells"
This email, based on reports available from the US, confirmed Belize as a money laundering centre and advising not to deal with companies registered in that jurisdiction. To date RSP have NOT sued either Chris Wells or TDC simply because it is so noted as an ML state.
Belize offers a high degree of privacy. Belize will not disclose its banking or fiscal information to any foreign party.
No tax at all
No reporting requirements.
The same month RSP publishes three parts of a four part report outlining its future proposals and criticising a previous airport viability study commissioned by Thanet council.
The study on behalf of Riveroak Strategic Partners forms part of the DCO process that the firm is following through Central Government to allow for a cargo and aviation business to be installed at Manston.
During late 2017 and early 2018 3 consultations were held and were characterised by the lack of meaningful information on Night Flights and how the local residents would be affected (something that is still ongoing)
April 2018 Riveroak submit their DCO
8th May 2018 The DCO is withdrawn (some say before it was rejected)
17th July 2018 Riveroak resubmit the DCO
14th August 2018 DCO accepted for examination
9th January 2019 (after a registration period) the Public Examination starts
8th July 2019 RSP confirm they will be buying the Manston site for £16.5M ( on top of this will be the continuing income from Operation Brock circa another £4.5M)
9th July 2019 RSP confirm sale has been completed and the DCO The Examination closed at 23:59
There will now be 3 month period to write up the report and then 3 months for the Secretary of State to make a decision.
