Representation by Christine Sharpe
- Date submitted
- 6 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I have major concerns already with regard to current noise levels of low flying aircraft, the proposal to enable an extra 100,000 flights a year is unreasonable and untenable for those affected on the ground living in the flight path of arriving aircraft over Lingfield. Pollution from aircraft and additional passenger traffic to and from the airport in this rural area would seem to go against everything that government is trying to achieve with its “Green” policy. The rural area around Gatwick Airport does not have the infrastructure to deal with increased traffic and car parking and I have seen no mention of financial aid in this respect. If the current emergency runway is to be used for this second runway what are the contingency plans for emergencies when there is no longer an emergency runway - does this put anyone living in the approach to or from either runway in danger? Why has the consultation naming Heathrow as the best option for an additional runway been ignored in favour of Gatwick, is it because the expectation is that there will be less resistance from rural villages and is therefore an easier option? On a personal note I live in Lingfield on the approach flight path, the noise from approaching aircraft is almost constant during the day with aircraft landing every two minutes during the summer and every five minutes for much of the night. I am unable to hold a conversation in my garden because the noise is so loud and constant. If I sit in my garden as one airplane flies over my house I can see another one in the near distance making its approach. Windows have to be closed at night so that I can sleep. I have lived in Lingfield for several years and aircraft noise has increased massively in that time, the period of no flying during the pandemic when the skies were free of aircraft only served to prove that there are already many more flights than before the pandemic and if flights are going to be increased by 100,000 with the new runway I truly cannot imagine what effect this will have on my wellbeing, as a pensioner I do not want to be in a position where I cannot sit in my garden but must stay indoors with windows shut in order to hear myself speak. I oppose the plan for a second runway at Gatwick Airport in the strongest terms and would ask that the impact of this from an environmental and infrastructure perspective and the very real impact this will have on peoples lives is given the highest priority and the project is rejected.