Representation by Michael John Lewis
- Date submitted
- 19 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I oppose this Gatwick Airport application for a northern runway because it is a new runway – - Policy has been misinterpreted by the applicant as this is an applicant for a new runway which does not comply with policy, Government’s Aviation Strategy. Gatwick does not have 2 runways that it can operate concurrently today as such it is a new runway being constructed. - Increase in aircraft noise – evidence an additional 101,000 flights a year to a cap of 386,000. Prior to November 2013, Gatwick spread incoming flights across the skies so that everyone who lived nearby had a few planes overfly their houses. Since then, however, Gatwick has introduced new technology which has routed flights coming in to land along a very narrow route. The route overflies my house with flights at peak times overflying my house every 90 seconds or so and into the night. (In contrast, Heathrow has a ban on night flights). I am concerned that increasing airport capacity even further at Gatwick would cause even more misery to those currently overflown, both in health terms and economically by depressing house values and clogging up even more the south east corner of the UK via the extra infrastructure required but not catered for. - Lack of affordable housing locally to enable workers to walk or cycle to work as the applicant proposes. And lack of amenities. - Low skilled jobs are offered with little job security due to the volatile nature of the airport’s leisure business. - Gatwick sits on a single main road, the M23 which is deemed an unsafe smart road. To add to the huge increase in freight, passengers and workers will cause a significant increase in congestion on residential roads and an inevitable decline in air quality. - The airport sits on the Brighton Main Line, which can’t be expanded. Gatwick seeks to add an unacceptable burden to the line with over 32m extra passengers. - We face a climate emergency, and a new runway would add a significant amount of carbon and greenhouse gases – Evidence CCC (2020) The Sixth Carbon Budget – Methodology Report. Available at: www.theccc.org.uk.So much for Net Zero.