Representation by Suzanne Hazzard
- Date submitted
- 15 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
We have seen a big increase in air traffic directly over our house in recent years and expanding Gatwick airport will only increase this further. When we asked various airport authorities why more planes are flying over our area it was not made clear although the suggestion was made that aircraft are routed away from built up areas to help with those living near the airport but expanding Gatwick airport is sure to mean additional planes, pollution and noise which have not previously been a problem. In an age when pollution is key to being reduced why is there a need to expand and increase air pollution? The public consultations were not conducted correctly so complaints were not registered and a true reflection of these proposals was not possible. I refer in particular to the Oxted Morrisons store where only one young man was supposedly working on behalf of the Gatwick proposals with no signage, nothing to explain what was happening and a long distance from the store so not attracting anyone to comment. When we asked how many extra planes or passengers the plans would cater for, we were asked for our email addresses and that someone would be in touch. No one ever replied! When asking other questions about the proposals, the young man gave us a brochure each and told us to read it through as he did not know! When we asked how he'd got on at the Caterham Morrisons store held that morning, he said ‘same as us here really’. Not surprising. There were 2 other well-dressed suited men hanging around but we were told they were the drivers of the van. Apparently there were balloons and extra posters to display but they weren’t going to display them for some reason? Even the store manager at Oxted was bemused as to why they weren't sited in a more prominent position. He did ask them to move but it still wasn’t a central location to attract the public. When we asked fellow shoppers if they were aware of what was going on they had no idea! How can that be holding responsible public consultations when you haven’t made people aware?