Representation by Sally Dunningham
- Date submitted
- 26 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
In a time when everyone is talking about reducing the effects of pollution, noise and environmental issues, why is Gatwick Airport talking about expansion? In the surrounding areas around Gatwick, even with measures in place to reduce emissions etc the effects on the environment could be greater than estimated or calculated. Any increase in air traffic in what is already crowded skies in the south east will add to these issues. If the Northern runway is adapted to take air traffic, it will probably be found that Gatwick has not been expanded enough to cope with the increased traffic it attracts and therefore further expansion will be necessary along with the possibility of night flights Is there really enough room on the site to use both runaways at the same time safely? Years ago they were talking about not “if” but “when” there would be a major air accident, would having two runways close together make it more likely that there would be a major incident even with today’s modern fail safes? Despite the suggested extensions to the present terminals which pre Covid were nearly running at full capacity, it would be likely that a third terminal would have to be built if the Northern runway is adapted for departures. Is there enough room on the present site to build one? The roads around Gatwick are already congested; improving the road infrastructure would only increase traffic. The present public transport systems are limited and only so much can be done to improve them. As it stands, people are not encouraged to travel to the airport by other means than by car even with the charges already in place even if improvements were in place. It is stated that the Northern Runway will continue to use existing flight paths but what about the main runway? Will that continue to use existing flight paths as well? Flights are already beginning to fly over Copthorne, Smallfield, Charlwood and surrounding areas where they didn’t before. Are we looking at this being the norm? Also, expansion of the airport would put increased pressure on existing housing, schools, colleges, hospitals, roads and transport. That would mean additional erosion of the countryside in the surrounding area around the airport to cope with the increased demand for the above as more and more land will be required for building whether its for housing, schools, hospitals, etc. I cannot see how they estimate the number of increased jobs as even before COVID, the Airport was shedding jobs. Yes the work will be there while they are expanding the Airport but how many will be there once all the work is finished? Gatwick is not a hub airport and never will be as its location is too close to Heathrow and is on the wrong side of London and the rest of the country to become a major player. The infrastructure simply doesn’t support it. Even with the use of the northern runway, how do Gatwick explain how they will be able to cope with a huge increase in flights which by 2038, when they expect to see 75.6 million passengers a year, with 382,000 commercial flights. In 2019, the airport's busiest year to date, there were 46.6 million passengers and the airport's website shows a total of 280,700 flights. There are only so many hours in a day, when are all these 382,000 flights going to take off and land? Does that mean that there will be an increase in night flights other than for 'operational reasons'? Where are they going to put all these passengers , pilots, flight crew and airport workers? The two terminals are at capacity, I don't see mention of a third one in the plans. They are reducing office space and only increasing hotel beds by 250, where are they going to put all the extra staff they are supposedly employing and additional hotel guests? I also have concerns about pressure on roads and the accessibility via public transport to the airport, as well as the impact of the increased noise from aircraft in the local area along with increases of pollution/carbon from all those additional flights. This will not just be limited to the airport. Water management I don't know much about but increased flights would mean an increased use of water and disposable of waste water into the sewage system, is that going to be upgraded in addition to the proposals for ground water storage? By taking steps to control the local rivers and streams, how can Gatwick be sure that they are not going to push any potential flooding elsewhere further upstream or downstream? The area is full of streams in addition to the River Mole, and if you control one part of a stream or river, there is likely to be a knock on effect elsewhere.