At our drop-in event in Groombridge on 12 October, local people kicked off the campaign to stop Gatwick's massive expansion plans by writing letters to their local Councillors and MPs. (See the News page for more on the event.)
Is writing worth it? A resounding yes. The more people who write, the more pressure your Council will be under to take your opposition seriously. Did you know that East Sussex County Council has in the past been in favour of Gatwick expanding? It's vital we tell them that we don't agree. Even if your MP opposes Gatwick expansion, they want your letters as letters from constituents are a powerful weapon for them when they push back at Gatwick. In other words, your letters make a difference - write now!
Below is a summary of the key facts you could include in a letter. Don't use them all - pick one or two that matter to you. Let us know what replies you get!
Find your East Sussex County Councillor here: https://bit.ly/2VcIVoS
Member of Parliament for Wealden:
Nus Ghani, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
KEY FACTS TO USE IN LETTERS AND EMAILS
WHAT IS GATWICK’S MASTER PLAN? Gatwick’s Master Plan, issued in July 2019, says they want a massive 40% increase in aircraft movements, from 55 to 75 per hour. By 2032, they want 390,000 annual aircraft movements – up from 285,000 today.
They plan to do this by using the existing main runway more, and by moving the back-up runway to create a second runway – though the Government’s commission found that Gatwick should not develop a second runway.
CLIMATE EMERGENCY – More planes mean more damage to the planet. Flights at Gatwick already emit 2.7 million tonnes of CO2 every year. Gatwick’s expansion would add another 1 million tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere a year.
The UK Government and local councils have declared a Climate Emergency – but Gatwick’s expansion plans make a mockery of plans to reach zero greenhouse emissions.
Gatwick likes to claim it is a climate-friendly airport but its own Carbon calculation doesn’t include flights, car, bus or taxi travel to and from the airport!
Gatwick claims that elevated NOX on Ashdown Forest is due to shipping – not the airplanes that fly over Sussex - but they cannot show research that backs this. Ashdown Forest is too precious to risk in the name of Gatwick’s profits.
Most people in the UK back limits on flying to tackle climate change – new research from Cardiff University found 66.9% of people think there should be restrictions on air travel. Just 1% of English residents take 20% of all flights abroad – we do not need airport expansion.
There is no technology yet that enables us to keep growing air travel while reducing greenhouse emissions.
BUSINESS - Is Gatwick good for local business? No – it’s good for Gatwick, not for the businesses in the counties around it. Only 15% of flights at Gatwick are business flights – most are domestic and bring little to the regional economy.
Gatwick carries very little freight in comparison to other UK airports: most is carried through Heathrow and East Midlands because these airports have good access to the rest of the UK.
There is full employment in the area around Gatwick so its huge demand for staff sucks employees away from local businesses and inflates wages for local businesses.
Gatwick’s PR machine works hard to persuade local authorities that Gatwick expansion is good for business, but there is no evidence of this.
Gatwick likes to quote a tiny group of local businesses who favour its expansion – but they do not represent the majority of businesses in Sussex, who predict no benefit.
More to the point, local businesses and residents will have to pay for the infrastructure improvements that Gatwick expansion would force on councils.
LOCAL TRAVEL– Road and rail can’t cope with existing passengers at Gatwick, let alone 24 million more passengers a year. Gatwick does not plan to fund any improvements to road or rail – so who will pay? Local councils and tax payers, no doubt.
Using two runways will mean 70 million passengers a year, compared to 46.1m today, a 52% increase. They’ll come by:
Road In 2017 54% of passengers arrived at Gatwick by roads. Add an extra 8.1 million passengers by just 2022/23, in perhaps 4 million private vehicles, this represents 11,000 additional vehicles a day, plus freight, plus peripheral businesses.
Rail Network Rail is struggling with the natural growth in rail passengers, even with recent investment in stations. The line cannot be expanded due to physical restrictions, so no additional trains can be added, yet Gatwick’s proposed expansion would add 3.25 million passengers a year to the Brighton line by 2022/23.
AMENITIES – Overwhelmed! Again, Gatwick wants a huge increase in staff, but where will they live, go to school, get healthcare? Gatwick pushes all the cost onto local authorities.
There is already a shortage of affordable housing, health care and school places, yet Gatwick states an additional 20,000 staff will be needed. Not only will this increase pressure on our public services, but it will also threaten the survival of our remaining green spaces, as they disappear to make way for Gatwick’s unsustainable growth.
HEALTH – What about our air quality? Little attention is being paid to air quality in our area, irrespective of whether air pollution is caused by aircraft or road traffic.
More flights will increase traffic and congestion, and therefore pollution from exhaust, including in our areas, as cars and suppliers' vans head to and from Gatwick.
Aircraft engines deposit both CO2, NOx (nitrogen oxides) and other emissions round the airport and at altitude; the latter has twice the global warming effect of CO2 alone.
NOISE – More planes mean more frequent noise, day and night. It’s not just annoying - researchers found that risks of hospital admission and death from stroke, heart and cardiovascular diseases are between 10 and 25 % higher in areas with high levels of aircraft noise.
