Representation by Bethany Side
- Date submitted
- 10 November 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I fully oppose Gatwick applying to turn its emergency runway into a second runway due to many key factors Any government that is in power will have to find ways to reduce the ever increasing threat of climate change. Aviation is a significant contributor to climate change. The science is there to back this up, and you can physically see the impact of this with every vapour trail a plane leaves in the sky. It is our responsibility to the future generations to reduce the carbon footprint we are currently making on the planet so to allow another runway to be built with the recent changes in our climate and the constant development of knowledge in this area is a complete hypocrisy. All parties are currently pledging to reduce our carbon footprint, so I hope this is demonstrated in the decision making of this planning application. It is a complete farce that Gatwick is applying for this extension as they currently cannot run one runway successfully. There are constant cancellations of flights due to staffing issues and technical issues. Having two runways will require more than double the amount of staff which given the pay and working conditions does not seem possible to achieve. The majority of the flights that take off still have spaces available so it seems preposterous to suggest building another runway when they planes are currently rarely at full capacity. With near empty planes taking off it demonstrates there is no need for a second runway. The surrounding infrastructure is not suitable for the increase in passengers. There is no suggestion in the plans for further public transport for passengers to get to the airport. This means that there will be a far higher proportion of cars driving to the airport, the surrounding areas can already become easily and heavily congested so the roads will not be able to cope with the additional passengers that will need to get to the airport with a second runway. The South-East is always struggling with its water supply and every summer we are infringed with hosepipe bans. Yet apparently, there is now surplus water in the area to build this giant, unwanted complex as this development will require a staggering amount of water to build. Water that according to our local water supplier we don’t have to spare in the dry summer months to keep the vegetation and nature in our gardens safe. The very same plant life that is so crucial to the reduction in our carbon footprint and the survival of our planet. The flight path into Gatwick was changed 10 years ago. A motorway could not be erected in the same way that this flight path was suddenly changed to. The land above people’s houses seems to have no protection or rules which is ridiculous. The new flight path is above High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, many of the properties in this area are protected. Meaning that the buildings are grade 1 or 2 listed and need to be preserved from pollution for the generations ahead. There are many attractions that create important and needed tourism in the area but these will lose their appeal to visitors due to the noise pollution from the skies directly above these precious, historical buildings. An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is the designation of an area that is only awarded to the very best British landscape. With this designation it is meant that development is difficult to do as the area should be protected from both visual and audible development. However, as already stated, this seems to have been ignored in the sky above this precious area. On the flight path are both Penshurst Place and Hever Castle, both considered to be a couple of the best surviving medieval landscapes in northwest Europe. These buildings require a huge upkeep which comes at a great cost, that can only be secured by attracting visitors that will clearly decrease if they have the constant noise pollution of planes above them (a noise pollution that is clearly not allowed in an AONB) If theses vital buildings can no longer bring in the money to maintain the upkeep it puts these rare and essential historical buildings at great risk. The High Weald AONB has the highest proportion of protected properties in the UK and they are houses with the lowest protection against noise, owning a grade 2 listed property means we have the original single glazed windows, that are not allowed to be changed to protect its heritage, but means the sound from the flight path is far higher and we are unable to protect ourselves which causes great anguish to our wellbeing and mental health. Although the planes are encouraged to fly at a certain height many of the pilots flout these restrictions and come in much lower than they should. Emirates are appalling at this and even at Penshurst they are so low it looks like they are already going into land. Again, it would appear that there are no penalties for planes that defy the height restrictions so they continue to come in lower than they should meaning the noise pollution and physical pollution is far greater to the properties and gardens below then they actually should be. To the best of my knowledge, it also means that our complaints about the noise pollution are not taken seriously as we are not deemed to be close enough to be affected by this and for our complaints to be recorded. With the development of a second runway, it means that there are more planes in the sky so for safety reasons the flight path will have to narrow. So not only will there be more planes going along a condensed path but there will be a far higher concentration of planes than there are now. It is already unbearable living under the current flight path but the increase in that amount of planes will cause an intolerable level of noise pollution and cause serious anxieties and mental health issues for the people in the properties below. When buying our house, one of the regulations we were made aware of is due to living in Penshurst, an area that is so heavily protected, if we wanted to build anything we would have to pay an extra levy to the council per square foot. It makes me query why it is so difficult for people who want to live in the area and do nothing but the best for the property have an extra hidden tax yet this multimillion pound business that clearly feel they are exempt from corporate climate responsibilities and obligations to protect the environment have no such levy put on them even though they are destroying the ambience of such a protected environment. Living in Penshurst we have dealt with the most arduous planning restrictions and cannot understand why it took us 6 months for the application of just replacing an existing (rotting and unsafe) fence with the same but taller fence on our land yet this has already got through the initial stage of the planning process. The local services in the surrounding area will be unable to cope with the development of the second runway. The hospitals are at capacity and the police are already understaffed in this area and allowing that many more people to the area means it would put further strain on services that are already buckling under pressure and have no more to give. I am applaud by the complete disregard to people’s well being that the aviation companies have been allowed to get away with and urge you to see this is not benefitting the local community and just a few very greedy individuals trying to line their own pockets.