Gatwick Airport plans to more than double it’s current passenger numbers from around 33 million a year to between 75 and 80 million a year sometime next decade.
The Gatwick Airport Northern Runway expansion project, six month examination stage, kicked off a on 28th Feb
At the moment Gatwick has a main runway which serves both arriving and departing flights. It also has an emergency runway which can be used when the main runway is out of action.
Gatwick cannot use both runways simultaneously as they are too close to safely run aircraft side by side.
The expansion plan requires moving the ’emergency’ runway 12 metres to the north, expanding the terminals and piers, reconfiguring the taxiways and providing additional parking for thousands more vehicles. This would enable Gatwick to use one runway for arrivals and the other for departures.
Bringing an additional runway into use Gatwick can increase it’s capacity up to 80 million passengers a year.
80 million passengers is what London Heathrow currently handles every year.
Every major authority located around the airport has objected to these plans. Local residents, politicians across the spectrum and national environmental groups have raised strong objections to the plans.
The arguments against are straightforward and obvious, centred around insufficient road and rail infrastructure, unacceptable increases in air pollution, increased noise levels. If the expansion is permitted Gatwick would directly compete with Heathrow airport as being the single biggest source of carbon emissions in the UK.
At the opening day of the examination Green Party Councillors from across the region were given the chance to air their views and to call out Gatwick of ignoring the local communities and environmental costs in their plans.
Green Party County and Reigate Borough Councillor Catherine Baart summed it up thus,
“Gatwick Airport Ltd is not taking enough responsibility for the impacts its expansion will have on the surrounding area and the planet. It appears to want to get its planning permission and realize its investment gain – but leave everyone else to cope with the consequences.” (read more)
Cllr Jonathan Essex of Redhill East pointed out the blatant contradiction in the expansion plan against what the country knows it needs to do.
“Gatwick should not compete with Heathrow to be the UK’s biggest climate polluter whilst claiming its climate impacts are insignificant. Instead the UK must limit demand for flights as called for by the UK’s official climate change advisors.
For Gatwick that must start by accepting it is big enough already.” (read more)
Nearby South Park and Woodhatch Cllr Paul Chandler laid out the broader context and addressed the gargantuan elephant standing impatiently at the side of the room,
“Global surface temperature has been at the highest recorded level every day since records began, since April 2023 and climate scientists are not exactly sure why this step change is occurring. Shall we wait and find, out or put our minds and might behind reducing carbon emissions because this is the underlying cause? This proposal does not help reduce carbon emissions.” (read more)
Horley East and Salfords Green Councillor Victoria Chester, said, “The future of the airline industry is uncertain and Horley residents need a better economic foundation on which to build their lives.”
Victoria continued to say “The figures just don’t stack up, so who is this project really for? Not local residents, not airport workers. – only a tiny minority right at the top will truly benefit.. the highest earners, and the shareholders.” (read more)
Green Cllr Lisa Scott said, “Charlwood Parish Council is disturbed that nether climate change nor air pollution are given a specific hearing at the start of this examination process. Along with noise, night flights and traffic congestion, these two factors have a significant impact on our community. Mean noise is an inappropriate measure, as the peaks occur around every 3 minutes, and to protect our residents we require adherence to the 2014 offer of no night flights.” (read more)
Cllr Claudia Fisher said, “Opposing expansion doesn’t mean our area can’t continue to benefit from Gatwick – but it is big enough already. The proposal would increase aircraft noise, further decline air quality, requires affordable housing for its offer of insecure low-skilled jobs, increase road congestion and overload our limited rail infrastructure. (read more)
Green MP for Brighton Pavillion Caroline Lucas was quoted as saying, “As the planetary emergency grows ever more rapidly, it’s ridiculous we’re still even having this conversation about expanding runways whether at Gatwick or anywhere else. The Government’s own independent climate advisors have been crystal clear: building any new runways at all would be fundamentally incompatible with meeting the UK’s climate change commitments.”
The traditional argument that airports create growth for the UK is increasingly doubted. One argument is that an airport such as Gatwick which primarily serves the leisure travel industry generally facilitate the ‘flight’ of disposable income out of the UK to other countries.
We cannot continue with financial and polluting power houses like Gatwick Airport Ltd expecting that they are entitled to yield infinite profits, whilst the environment and the public have to pick up the costs of their pollution.
The current phase of the planning process will run for approximately six months. In enables the applicant and those previously registered to air their views and opinions on the proposals.
