Representation by Adele Smith
- Date submitted
- 13 November 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I oppose this Gatwick Airport 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. *Increase in aircraft noise – evidence is that an additional 101,000 flights a year to a cap of 386,000 will be flown. This will likely negatively impact the value of affected properties. *Lack of affordable housing locally to enable workers to walk or cycle to work as the applicant proposes. Lack of amenities and infrastructure for proposed housing *Low skilled jobs are offered with little job security due to the volatile nature of the airport’s leisure business and Gatwicks stated objective to automate systems to reduce staff/increase efficiency. *Gatwick sits on a single main road, the M23 which is deemed an unsafe smart road. The huge increase in freight, passengers and workers will cause a significant increase in congestion on the M23 and related routes to/from the airport including spillover into residential roads. This will lead to an an inevitable decline in air quality. *The airport sits on the Brighton Main Line, which can’t be expanded. Gatwick seeks to add an unacceptable burden to the line with over 32m extra passengers. *We face a climate emergency, and a new runway would add a significant amount of carbon and greenhouse gases – Evidence CCC (2020) The Sixth Carbon Budget – Methodology Report. Available at: www.theccc.org.uk