Gatwick Airport has come under fire from campaigners who say it is trying to open "a new runway on the cheap".
Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions (CAGNE) argues the West Sussex airport's plans fail to address crucial issues like noise pollution, surface transport, housing needs, and wastewater treatment. The group has threatened to push for a judicial reviewif Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander approves the project.
Gatwick's proposal aims to bring its standby runway into regular operation for smaller aircraft take-offs, boosting the airport's yearly flight capacity by 100,000.
The £2.2 billion privately-funded project includes shifting the existing runway 12 metres, expanding both terminals, adding new aircraft gates, and improving road access.
The Transport Secretary faces a 27 February deadline to decide on Gatwick's application for a development consent order.
Sally Pavey, 59, who chairs Cagne, claimed there are “many holes in the submissions made by Gatwick”.
She said: “This is a new runway on the cheap.
“There are so many things that haven’t been confirmed or finalised.
“The Secretary of State would be very unwise to actually approve it, because it’s going to cost the local authorities dearly as they’ll have to pay for the ramifications.”
Ms Pavey said Gatwick has provided “very little reassurance” about the impact of expansion on noise, while she described the major transport links to the airport as a “single railway line and a single road which can’t be expanded without major investment”.
She questioned “where is the affordable housing?” that would be needed with an increase in the airport’s workforce, and called for a wastewater treatment plant to be built on-site as existing facilities in the area have “very limited capacity”.
Gatwick insisted “full and thorough assessments” of these issues have been carried out.
Ms Pavey also expressed doubts over the UK’s ability to meet its carbon reduction obligations and grow the economy if Gatwick is expanded.
She said: “Why would you spend some of your really valuable carbon budget on building another bucket and spade runway that exports sterling on cheap flights overseas?
“(The extra passengers would) spend money out of the country, benefiting other countries’ economies.
“The carbon budget is so precious. If (Chancellor Rachel Reeves) is talking about boosting the economy, you surely should be looking for home-grown businesses.”
Ms Pavey said aircraft noise significantly affects many Cagne members, including some whose homes started being overflown after flight paths were adjusted.
The number of flights at Gatwick is limited between 11.30pm and 6am, but Ms Pavey claimed the airport authorities “cram in” flights just outside the restricted period, which she said is still when “most people are trying to sleep”.
Operating as a two-runway airport would enable Gatwick to add around 10-15 flights per hour at peak periods.
A recent Gatwick-commissioned Civil Aviation Authority report found 17,300 people lived in an area around the airport where the average sound level from air noise in summer 2023 between 11pm and 7am exceeded 45 decibels (dB).
The Department for Transport (DfT) has adopted 45dB as the lowest night-time average noise level which has an observed adverse effect.
A spokesperson for Gatwick, which is owned by French company Vinci and investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners, said: “As part of the development consent order planning process for our northern runway plans, full and thorough assessments have been carried out on surface transport, noise, housing provision and wastewater treatment.
“We understand noise in particular is an important consideration for local people and managing noise levels for the local community is extremely important to us.
“Our noise footprint has reduced by around a third over the last 20 years, due to quieter aircraft.
“If our northern runway plans are approved, we will commit to ensuring noise levels are no louder than they were in 2019 – our busiest year.
“This can be done as quieter aircraft will join airlines’ fleets, offsetting any increase in noise from the additional flights.
“Recent polling shows 80 per cent of responding residents across the South East support the airport’s growth plans, while more than 100,000 businesses were represented in letters to Government endorsing our plans.”
A DfT spokesperson said: “As this is a live application that will be determined by the department, it would not be appropriate to comment.”
Gatwick describes its proposal as “shovel ready” and believes it could start construction work this year.
It hopes the upgraded runway will be operational by the end of the decade.
