Representation by Victoria Chester
- Date submitted
- 19 November 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I wish to object on the following grounds: Economic case: There is no need for this airport and it will bring no net benefit to the local community. The benefits have been overstated whilst costs have been ignored and/or understated. The economic benefits are based on growth in business travel but this has been and is not likely to be any significant growth in business travel. The growth is only in leisure flights which take money out of the UK economy rather than bring it in. The overall case for expansion does not comply with the Airports National Policy Statement. People have been sold this idea of 12000s of new jobs, but these jobs offer salaries insufficient on which to base a mortgage for living in the area. The jobs are often zero hours, insecure and with little long-term prospect - with increasing automation and an uncertain future for the air industry and the economy in general, and increasing worries about environmental impacts, these are not the sort of careers we should be pushing people into. Plus, Gatwick seems unable to fill its vacancies even now! Climate impact: The project will result in large increases in CO2 emissions and other climate effects associated with airport operations, flights, construction works and road traffic. Air pollution will also worsen from increased flights/traffic and this is something that GAL have failed to measure or model properly. Local impact: The construction phase is going to be a complete nightmare for those living nearby - p[arts of Horley will become a building site. This will last up to 15 (or longer?!). Part of Riverside park will be lost and some residential areas will end up right next to the main road. It is very worrying for residents to know that they may be relocated from their homes during the construction period - there is scant detail on how this is going to be managed, or the sale at which it will take place. Property prices and mortgage availability are already showing signs of being impacted. There will be a huge increase in traffic and congestion on local roads, with the additional lane and expanded roundabout at Longbridge, following completion of the works, The active transport plans proposed are not sufficient to cater for increased passenger numbers - no provision of extra rail services, for example. We have a big problems with off-airport ‘nuisance’ parking in the area - i.e. on our residential roads - this will get significantly worse with such an increase in passenger numbers. Our roads are already full of potholes - the increased traffic through the town will put further strain on the roads and the budgets of the local authorities. We already have problems with traffic congestion and again this will be made much worse with the increased movement of traffic through the town. Flooding, water supply & sewage impacts: The project area is a floodplain and at increasingly higher risk of serious flooding with the ever increasing extreme weather events we are experiencing. The mitigations are not adequate and some of the modelling has been done on a 40 year lifespan rather than 100 years. There have not been assessments made on requirements/impacts of waste water processing and water needs. Our local River Mole, and its tributaries will be impacted by increased sewage spills, road runoff, higher levels of littering and general pollution. The Mole is already classed as 'poor'. Noise impacts: The project will bring a significant increase in aircraft noise for those living near the airport and those further away who live under flight paths. Night flights, and changing/unauthorised flight paths are already a problem for the area. There will be significantly more road noise from the expanded road network and resultant extra traffic. The area around Riverside is already extremely noisy. We will also have to endure 15 years of noise from the large construction area and all the large vehicles moving in and out at all times of the day. The proposed noise envelope Gatwick is not consistent with government policy or industry guidelines. All in all, it seems that there is no case for expansion that truly stands, once the detail has been looked into - it appears that the only people who will genuinely benefit economically will be shareholders, and maybe a few higher paid employees. For the rest of us living nearby, the negative impacts will be huge. Any economic benefit from increased passengers will only end up in London / the South East (potentially a few business flights into the capital, whilst most flights will take people out of the UK on holiday and away from the traditional holiday destinations in the North and other poorer areas), so makes a mockery of the Governments plans to 'Level Up'. I would like the chance to comment further on the plans in future.