Representation by Peter Bishop
- Date submitted
- 18 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I have worked at Heathrow Airport (and also at Gatwick to a lesser extent) for over 15 years supporting British Airways communications infrastructure as a third party subcontractor, with Airside access. Also, living in Southwater, I am also under the flight path, so do see arriving aircraft mainly. Having worked airside at both Heathrow and Gatwick, the main noise level I have ever experienced was directly next to manoeuvring aircraft or behind or to one side of aircraft departing, but outside of those areas aircraft noise was no different to normal traffic noise, so I don't believe any expansion to Gatwick would significantly increase the noise levels than what currently exists. In my opinion, compared to Heathrow, Gatwick has a much better transport infrastructure and is served directly by train from London and the South Coast as well as being served by the M23 which has been recently improved. The transport infrastructure along with the housing in Crawley and surrounding areas also make it easy for people employed at Gatwick to live close to the airport and also commute to the airport without increasing traffic unnecessarily. I can't comment on the change to the environment, as I don't have any experience, but I would hope that the development would take this into consideration in the proposals. I do believe that aircraft manufacturers are striving to make more efficient and quieter aircraft, so believe this would help in any expansion plans. Heathrow do change their arrival and departure runways to help with noise reduction for local residents, so assume that Gatwick would do the same with 2 runways. Finally, I am now retired and do not have any associations with any companies or organisations at Gatwick or in the aviation industry, but I support the expansion of Gatwick