Representation by Paul Woodruff
- Date submitted
- 28 October 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The regularity of the aeroplanes from and to Gatwick is already at totally unacceptable levels for residents of Lingfield and surrounding areas. At times there are planes one after another just several minutes apart. The noise of one hasn't faded fully before the next plane is coming in. The noise too is appalling the A380s shake the ground and the sound of their landing gear is defending in the garden and disruptive to conversation, TV, radio inside the house too. There seems to be an increasingly high number of flights at night time close to midnight, this in incredibly disruptive to sleep of me and my family especially in the summer when we have windows open. The summers are getting hotter due to global warming and you are suggesting more environmentally damaging aircraft?! The impact of lost sleep has a detrimental effect on my mental health and this is at a time when there is reduced funding for mental health services and what is commonly regarded as a mental health crisis currently in the uk. With the regularity of flights there will be significant levels of pollution that will have negative effect on the health of me and my family. Day to day we are seeing increasing levels of traffic coming through the village especially heavy goods truck and container lorries. The damage to the roads this causes is significant and the repairs are slow, closely and disruptive not to mention not very long lasting. The infrastructure to support further expansion of an already dilapidated and over capacity airport is not good enough and the promise of additional boost to the economy is unlikely and certainly won't offset the hugely negative impact to the already significant impact on our lives. Finally I believe any expansion is likely to have major environmental impact which will be to the detriment of the surrounding area at a time that the greenbelt and open countryside is under significant pressure from the government to build more houses, again without the infrastructure to support it. Gatwick has a major and detrimental impact of the enjoyment of life in Lingfield and further expansion here should absolutely not be considered.