Representation by Shirley Wise
- Date submitted
- 24 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am totally opposed to the Gatwick expansion on many grounds. The first objection will be yet more horrendous noise from the planes themselves, I hear them now every day and every night and during the summer months it is even worse. I wake up some nights to the incessant drone of a plane overhead and I can only imagine what it would mean with yet more flights going by. Yet more traffic on our roads with, it is estimated 30,000 more car journeys to Gatwick from all directions. These car journeys not only clogging up the notorious M25 but also our towns and side roads. Gatwick’s expansion is intended to create a global hub airport of the size of Heathrow, so these increases in traffic/people not only travel to/from the airport but a lot of them need to park somewhere while they are away, creating yet more car parks in and around the airport, losing us yet more valuable green land. Encouraging all these extra traffic journeys creates yet more car fumes; while our local councils are trying to curtail these by keep adding to the 20 is plenty driving restrictions, these extra journeys will stamp out anything we have saved ourselves and will come near our homes and pollute our air. I also oppose this application for a northern runway because it is a new runway – Policy has been misinterpreted by the applicant as this is an application for a new runway and as such does not comply with policy, or the Government’s Aviation Strategy. Gatwick does not have 2 runways that it can operate concurrently today and as such it is a new runway being constructed. I could, no doubt, go on and on, but for now I think I have personally highlighted several issues that should mean this application fails. I have spoken to many people who live in Tunbridge Wells and most agree it won't benefit us at all and will, given some of the above reasons, make our life hell. Please throw out this ludicrous application, put it in the bin where it belongs. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Shirley Wise (Mrs)