Representation by Emily Jane Medway
- Date submitted
- 28 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The noise impact of more aircraft due to of any expansion would be my main concern. Particularly how any increase of night flights might impact our sleep quality. We have previously made a complaint due to unusually loud aircraft at night flying overhead and waking up our baby. As a new parent this is incredibly frustrating as external noise is out of your control, but deemed within acceptable levels. We received a very detailed response from Gatwick but were in effect told this was acceptable level of noise and had been the case for years, whereas this was not the case. With an increase of further flights, I can foresee this only getting worse and the industry and government deciding on acceptable noise and traffic levels without truly listening to the human impact of increased noise levels. As I understand it, Gatwick’s proposals do not comply with government aircraft noise policy. Policy requires the industry to reduce and mitigate noise as airport capacity grows. Government policy also requires the benefits of future growth in aviation to be shared between the aviation industry and local communities. Benefits to the industry would be very substantial. By contrast, the airport’s increased noise impact would not be of benefit for my local community.