Gatwick Airport – GACC Information

Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign
Email received on the 26th August 2021

Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign

Dear Friends,

Gatwick announced yesterday morning that it will launch its public consultation on plans to bring its existing standby runway into routine use, alongside its main runway, on 9th September, running through to 1 December. Its press release is here.

This is the first stage in the planning process which, if approved would see Gatwick would grow from 45m passengers and 280,000 flights annually, to 76m passengers and 390,000 flights over the next 15 years, making it nearly the size of Heathrow.

As we all know, the consequences for local communities, people under flight paths and our environment would be devastating: more noise, more road and rail congestion, more CO2 emissions and other climate impacts, worse air quality and property devaluation both around the airport and under flight paths. The threat is very real and very serious. We have published our own Press Release challenging these plans and you can read it website here.

GACC (Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign) press release

25th August 2021

The proposed expansion of Gatwick, confirmed today by the airport, is unwelcome, unnecessary and, if approved, would have devastating consequences for the environment, local communities, and people living under flight paths many miles away.

The Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC), with local community groups, is relaunching its ‘Gatwick’s Big Enough’ campaign to fight these proposals.

The plan to grow the airport’s capacity by between 40% and over 60% over the next fifteen years involves use of new technology on the main runway and re-aligning and widening the existing emergency (or standby) runway to form a second runway.

Despite claiming that it is no longer pursuing an additional full runway Gatwick also wishes to continue to blight residents living to the south of the airport with its demand to safeguard land from any other development.

The use of the emergency runway in conjunction with the main runway would mean more noise, more CO2 emissions and other climate impacts, more congestion on local infrastructure and poorer air quality. There would be serious health impacts for local communities and those under flight paths and severe effects on a local infrastructure already overburdened as a result of past growth.

If it gets its way, Gatwick would be able to grow from 45 million passengers and 280,000 flights in 2018, to 74 million passengers and 390,000 flights over the next 15 years, nearly the size of Heathrow.

Chairman of GACC, Peter Barclay, said “There is no need or other case for expansion at Gatwick. GACC and other local community groups have met and unanimously agreed to challenge these proposals as robustly as possible. The world now knows that aviation’s growth has climate consequences that it simply can’t afford, and serious adverse local impacts on health through noise and air pollution. This proposal is unnecessary and ill conceived.

“It must and will be opposed and rejected.”

Regards

Peter Barclay
Chairman GACC

For more information about Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign
phone 01293 863369
email info@gacc.org.uk
website www.gacc.org.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/doyoucaregatwick

Alternatively contact directly
phone John Byng 01293 537234
phone Peter Barclay 01293 862821

Gatwick Airport – CAGNE Information

Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions
Email received on the 24th August 2021

Gatwick will announce tomorrow a public consultation to rebuild the emergency runway as a second runway which flies in the face of the climate emergency we all face

Whilst other industries make every effort to reduce carbon output Gatwick Airport’s shareholders seek to add 1 million tonnes of extra carbon a year with a second runway

  • This Wednesday (25th) Gatwick Airport is to announce the public consultation on rebuilding the emergency runway (northern/ standby) as a second runway.
    This does not meet government policy of ‘making best use of current facilities’ as both runways cannot be used in unison currently due to safety issues
  • The announcement flies in the face of the climate emergency we are all facing – whilst we recycle and buy electric cars aviation continues to seek unconditional polluting growth
  • Gatwick is not carbon neutral and must be made to take responsibility for the carbon and greenhouses gases of the aircraft departing and landing at its airport
  • A second runway at Gatwick Airport would add 1MTonnesCO2 on top of Gatwick’s pre Covid flight figures (285,000 aircraft movements a year) plus the planned 40% increase from the main runway that will not be scrutinised.
  • This move can be for one reason only; shareholders seek to sell Gatwick with 2 runways.

“Whilst the children are off school and elected member’s holiday, Gatwick Airport choose a time when the skies are quiet to announce a public consultation that flies in the face of the climate emergency, we are all facing”, said CAGNE, the umbrella aviation community and environmental group for Sussex, Surrey, and Kent. “It is despicable and disingenuous for a company to ignore the emissions that planes in and out of Gatwick Airport produce. This pollution from this airport is causeing grave danger for future generations that will have to pay the price for today’s greed of this leisure airport.”

CAGNE has already instigated a series of educational talks to inform residents of the climate impact of a second runway at Gatwick Airport. The next virtual talk takes place on Thursday 30th September (Time is Ticking – Unmasked! The environmental ramifications of Gatwick Airport second runway – website time is ticking a series of virtual talks)

“Boris Johnson said listen to the science when it came to Covid, elected members will be ignoring the science if they permitted this disastrous if they support this planning application by Gatwick Airport to obtain planning for this second runway,” said CAGNE.

“Climate change is one of the greatest and most pressing threats facing the modern world and yet Gatwick ignore this fact and endeavour to push forward for a second runway. Constraint of this industry must be the answer if we are to save the planet for future generations.”

There is no one alternative fuel to fossil fuel for aviation currently, and yet this move by Gatwick shareholders must be seen as total disregard for the planet and future generations.

Gatwick seek to claim they are carbon neutral as they do not account for aircraft movements. They buy electricity from a supplier called Haven Power, owned by Drax, “renewable electricity” is made from biomass. Environmentalists have warned will create enormous demand for forest and other biomass and come at serious risks for land use, agriculture, and biodiversity in the UK and abroad.

Aviation and Gatwick Airport had been reducing jobs at the airport long before Covid with automation and this continues. Job creation therefore must be in greener and more sustainable sectors if we are to truly retrofit our homes.

It is not just about carbon but also the greenhouse gases and the air particles produced by aviation.

Link to talks website time is ticking a series of virtual talks
Link to Gatwick 2 briefing paper from details known to date which does not include details from Wednesday – website Stop Gatwick Expansion

Can you help hand out leaflets to oppose Gatwick 2 on Saturday 12th September at Slinfold? Contact email cagnegatwick@gmail.com

Make an annual pledge of support by donating £4 (it can be more) a year to help CAGNE to continue efforts to be fair to all communities. Simply set up an annual standing order of £4 to the CAGNE account at NatWest Horsham, number 19865090 sort code 60-11-17, or bank transfer or by PayPal at www.cagne.org or send a cheque made payable to CAGNE to the CAGNE Treasurer c/o Porters Farm, Friday Street, Rusper, West Sussex RH12 4QA

CAGNE contact details:

email cagnegatwick@gmail.com
website cagne.org
Facebook www.facebook.com/Gatwickcagne

Our mailing address is:
CAGNE
CAGNE
Gatwick
Horsham, West Sussex RH12 3SQ
United Kingdom

Gatwick Airport – Crawley News 24

Thousands of new jobs could be generated as Gatwick pushes forward with plan to convert emergency runway

26th August 2021 – Crawley Observer
website www.crawleynews24.co.uk

Gatwick has today announced that a public consultation will start on the 9th September 2021 on plans to bring its existing Northern Runway into routine use alongside its Main Runway.

They say the scheme will help secure the airports long-term growth, generating approximately 18,400 additional jobs by 2038 and an additional expected £1.5bn GVA to the region.

While passenger numbers currently remain low due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gatwick is taking its plans for growth forward now as they still expect to be capacity constrained in the time it would take to secure approvals, complete construction and start operations.

They say the proposed plans would allow the airport’s Northern Runway to be brought into routine use, for departing aircraft, by repositioning its centre line further north by 12 metres.

This would enable dual runway operations with the airport’s Main Runway whilst meeting all international safety standards. They add that the plans would add resilience to Gatwick’s operations (reducing delays and congestion), bring new global connections and allow an increase in passenger capacity to approximately 75 million passengers per annum by 2038.

Other elements of the proposals include improved airport access, highway improvements, as well as additional landscape/ecological planting and environmental mitigation.

Gatwick has said that the project proposals are low impact and are in line with Government policy of making best use of existing runways and the project will be delivered in a sustainable way which they say helps to achieve the Government’s overall goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

As the proposed Northern Runway plans are considered a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, the airport plans to apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to build and operate the scheme. Before the application is submitted Gatwick will be running a twelve-week public consultation, for anyone who is interested in reviewing or commenting on the proposals, from 9th September 2021 to 1st December 2021.

The Statement of Community Consultation (setting out how Gatwick proposes to consult the local community on the proposed Northern Runway project) has been published today at website www.gatwickairport.com/futureplans.

Full consultation materials will be made available on the website www.gatwickairport.com/futureplans web pages from the 9th September along with a virtual exhibition and an option to book a telephone surgery with project experts or to request a virtual briefing for local stakeholder groups.

For those people who may find online access difficult Gatwick will be operating a mobile project office which will visit key areas around West and East Sussex, Surrey and Kent and all consultation materials will also be available at various deposit points, including libraries in those areas.

Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive Officer, Gatwick Airport, said:

While we are currently experiencing low passenger and air traffic volumes due to the global pandemic, we are confident that Gatwick will not only fully recover to previous passenger levels, but has the potential to continue to grow back into one of Europe’s premier airports. Our plans to bring our existing Northern Runway into routine use will not only help to secure that growth but will also ensure many thousands of additional jobs and a vital boost to the economy for our local region.

“We would like to hear views from local people and interested groups on the proposed Northern Runway Project as part of our comprehensive public consultation process and encourage everyone to take time to review our plans.

“Aside from the economic benefits our plans will have, we remain committed to our sustainability goals, and our Northern Runway plans are designed to be a low impact way of unlocking new capacity from our existing infrastructure, much of which is already in place.

Gatwick News – Crawley Observer

Gatwick Airport poised to launch consultation on second runway plans

25th August 2021 – Crawley Observer
website www.crawleyobserver.co.uk

Gatwick has today announced that a public consultation will start on September 9 2021 on plans to bring its existing Northern Runway into routine use alongside its main runway.

The scheme will help secure the airports long term growth, generating approximately 18400 additional jobs by 2038 and an additional expected £1.5 billion GVA to the region. While passenger numbers remain currently low due to the covid-19 pandemic, Gatwick is taking its plans for growth forward now as it still expects to be capacity constrained in the time it would take to secure approvals, complete construction and start operations.

The proposed plans would allow the airport’s Northern runway to be brought into routine use, for departing aircraft by reposition its centre line further north by 12 metres. This would enable dual runway operations with the airport’s main runway whilst meeting all international safety standards.

The plans would add resilience to Gatwick operations (reducing delays and congestion), bring new global connections and allow an increase in passenger capacity to approximately 75 million passengers per annum by 2038.

Other elements of the proposal include improved airports access, highway improvements, as well as additional landscape/ecological planting and environmental mitigation.

The project proposals are low impact and in line with government policy of making best use of runways. The project will be delivered in a sustainable way which helps to achieve the government’s overall goal of zero emissions by 2050.

Planning Application – Gypsy / Traveller Site on Radford Road

Planning Application

Proposal:
Material change of use of land to a Gypsy and traveller site for 2 pitches each with 3 caravans and associated operational development (hardstanding, access track, shared package treatment plant, amenity blocks, sheds, kennel /dog run and post and rail fencing) – Retrospective

Application Number: CR/2021/0243/FUL

CBC Planning Applications

Case Officer: Mr M. Robinson
phone (01293) 438951
email Marc.Robinson@crawley.gov.uk

Location:
Land East of Radford Farm (and West of the access road to the Thames sewerage treatment works), Radford Road, Crawley, West Sussex.

Local Health Network News: August 2021

Stay safe this summer

It’s summertime and we hope the weather cheers up again soon so we can all get out and about and enjoy West Sussex in the sunshine.

Even though restrictions have been lifted coronavirus is still with us and it’s important that we protect ourselves and others.

Remember to take regular coronavirus tests (you can order them free online), wear a face covering in crowded places, give each other space and get out into the fresh air if possible.

You can see the latest Covid-19 figures for West Sussex here.

Find out more


One job – get the jab

If you’ve got young friends or family members aged 18 to 25 who haven’t been vaccinated – then please encourage them to get the jab – it’s their passport to enjoying life to the full again after missing out on so much.

Book or call to receive first and second jabs or attend a walk-in vaccination clinic taking place across West Sussex throughout the summer – no booking needed.

Up to last Monday (2 August), 640,061 people in West Sussex have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccination, which is 85.5% of the county’s estimated over 18 population.

If you’ve had your jabs then get your NHS COVID pass. It shows you’ve had your vaccinations and may be required to attend events, venues and when travelling abroad.

Find out all the latest data on vaccination take up in your area on the link below.

Find out more


Beach ready? Check the App!

If you are heading for the coast and looking to avoid crowded beaches then download a free app: Beach Check UK. It allows visitors to check the state of a number of participating West Sussex beaches before they set out.

Simple to use, the app follows a traffic light system; red means crowded and best avoided, amber less crowded but busy, and green means uncongested beaches.

Currently in West Sussex, beaches featured on the app include West Wittering, Worthing (Main, West & East), Goring, Lancing and Widewater.

Download it from Google Play and the Apple App store (with no in-app purchases necessary).

Experience West Sussex, our tourism partnership, is also working to keep our county safe this summer. Check out the new safety and environmental guides which ensure everyone enjoys their day out, short break or holiday.


Free holiday club spaces

Free holiday club spaces are available across West Sussex for eligible children and young people.

If your child receives Free School Meals (means tested) then they could take part in our Holiday Activity and Food Programme, running now, free of charge.

Football and other sports clubs are being held, or they can learn about healthy eating or explore farm and forest schools, there’s something for every young person to enjoy.

Search all of the Activity and Food events near you via the link below. Please note there are currently a number of free places for eligible families, but these are limited and may book up.


What next? Advice after exam results

A-level and GCSE students will be opening their results two days apart next week after completing another hugely disrupted academic year. We wish all West Sussex students the best of luck.

Results day for A levels and other vocational courses is next Tuesday (10 August) with GCSE results due out on Thursday (12 August).

Exams were cancelled for a second year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, so students will be awarded teacher-assessed grades.

Our Careers Team will be on hand to help with what happens next, and can give advice on carrying on in education, training, an apprenticeship or a job.

If you need advice please call 0330 222 2700. There’s also a live chat facility between 10am and 4pm each weekday or you can email the team at careersadvice@westsussex.gov.uk.

Emotional wellbeing support is also available for children and young people experiencing mental health difficulties. The Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust website has a dedicated area with information for children and young people.


Any old cars?

West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service is appealing for donations of old, unwanted vehicles.

The service relies on donations of used vehicles from members of the public for firefighters to use for training.

This allows them to prepare for rescuing people who have become trapped in their vehicles following a road traffic collision.

Collection and removal of vehicles is free to any address within West Sussex.

To donate a car call 0330 2228377, or email frsmedia@westsussex.gov.uk with the following details: your name, contact phone number, make, model and registration of the vehicle, whether it is taxed or SORNd plus the full address, including a postcode, of where the vehicle is parked.


Small steps – big difference

Are you interested in finding out about climate change and the environment in West Sussex and how you can take small steps to reduce your carbon footprint and be kinder to the planet?

If so, why not subscribe to our Environment and Climate Change eNewsletter here?

Our monthly email contains local climate news and county council project updates, as well as information and quick-links to organisations, funding grants and local activities.
Find out more


It’s summertime and the walking is easy!

If you fancy a gentle stroll in West Sussex then we have devised 14 easy countryside trails.

The walks, which can be downloaded, are for everyone to enjoy, including wheelchair users, families with pushchairs, those wanting a gentler walk and walkers who are less mobile.

Find out more