Residents get behind expansion of Gatwick
24th September 2014 – Crawley News
Gatwick bosses have claimed that Crawley residents are “among the most supportive” of a second runway there, following a YouGov poll of residents in areas surrounding the airport.
The polling covered seven areas – Crawley, Croydon, Mid Sussex, Horsham, Mole Valley, Tandridge, and Reigate and Banstead – with the average level of support at 52 per cent in favour of expansion at Gatwick and 36 per cent opting for Heathrow.
A spokesman for Gatwick said that 54 per cent of Crawley residents were in a favour of expansion, with “only residents of Croydon (58 per cent) and Horsham (57 per cent)” more supportive.
He added that more than half (53 per cent) of Crawley residents said the advantages of expanding Gatwick outweighed the disadvantages for the local area, compared to 37 per cent who disagreed.
And the spokesman said clearly three times as many Crawley residents (65 per cent) also thought that expanding Gatwick was important for the local economy, with 28 per cent disagreeing.
But only 101 people were questioned in Crawley as part of the poll, with a total of 1,009 residents from the seven areas having taken part.
Do you think a second runway at Gatwick is a good thing for the future of Crawley? E-mail your views to editor@crawleynews.co.uk