Green councillors based near Gatwick Airport have accused the government of “dereliction of duty” towards its climate commitments for saying today it was “minded to approve” the second runway at the airport.
And the Greens said that delaying a decision on the details until the autumn is “shortsighted political indecision”.
Cllr Jonathan Essex, leader of the Green Groups on Surrey County Council and Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, said: “Today the government has again made the wrong political choice. The government must use this delay to recast its economic ideas to sit within our climate commitments, not fall for false economic promises that will send more household income overseas and drive up inequality across the UK.”
Cllr Essex added: “The notion that you can signal green light and then fudge the climate impacts later is a dereliction of the government’s climate duty. Increasing flights will make climate change worse.”
Cllr Victoria Chester, whose Horley East & Salfords ward is next to the airport, said: “This green light for Gatwick expansion is environmentally destructive and economically nonsensical. Expanding Gatwick would ruin the local environment, leave the UK’s carbon aspirations in tatters, and affect the quality of life of local residents. This will lead to further demand for housing in an area that doesn’t have enough affordable homes as it is.”
Cllr Chester claimed that the expansion is also unnecessary. “People who like to fly will still have access to affordable flights without the need for a second runway. Furthermore, the recently announced extra routes for Eurostar, with a plan to almost triple capacity for train travel to mainland Europe by 2030, provide a raft of viable alternatives to flying. The government should be backing trains, not planes, as part of its own Climate Change Committee’s advice to bring down demand for flying.”
She questioned who would actually benefit from the airport being expanded. “Local people have been hoodwinked into believing the expansion will benefit them – this deception needs to be called out. As far as I can see, only the super-wealthy institutional investor Blackrock, the shadowy foreign owners of Gatwick who have had private meetings with Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, will benefit.”
Cllr Chester added: “The Government’s economic and climate strategies are increasingly contradictory. We desperately need a joined-up approach where economic targets for this country align with environmental aspirations instead of working against them. We have shown time and time again that this can be done – so why instead does this government continue to pander to vested interests and line the pockets of the rich?”
