A consortium of ten local councils, including Tandridge District Council, has issued a joint statement in reply to Gatwick Airport’s Northern Runway Project application, which it has submitted to the Planning Inspectorate. If successful, its proposal to bring its existing northern runway into regular use means that the airport could see 75 million passengers passing through it a year by 2038.
The consortium, which comprises councils from Surrey, Kent, East Sussex and West Sussex, was created to ensure all their interests are represented. Their statement said:
“We are concerned that the current proposals do not provide sufficient controls to ensure the planned development does not exceed air and ground noise and air quality levels. We also do not consider that the transport network has the capacity to meet the sustainable needs that will arise for the almost doubling of passengers using the airport.
We have been working together to ensure that, if the proposal was to be approved, the required controls, mitigations and, where appropriate, compensations are put in place to limit the environmental impacts and to maximise the economic and community benefits that should be sought from such development.
The public examination will start on Tuesday (5 March); any residents who want to view the proceedings online can do so here.”
The other councils in the consortium are Crawley Borough Council, East Sussex County Council, Horsham District Council, Kent County Council, Mid Sussex District Council, Mole Valley District Council, Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, Surrey County Council and West Sussex County Council.
