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

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