Many of them have complained directly to Gatwick Airport, the CAA and NATS but have yet to be satisfied on a number of points.
There has to be some consultation before a trial flight path change can be commenced. This was apparently carried out, although most local residents were completely unaware of the trial before the noise began. However there are several outstanding questions to which I am urgently seeking answers:
Exactly what is being trialled?
Why is any change needed?
On what criteria will the trial be assessed?
Why does it need to continue for six months?
How is it being monitored?
Some local residents are writing to me from addresses which should not be directly under the flight paths as advised by the customer relations department at Gatwick, which suggests that pilots are not adhering to the specified trial route. Anyone who suspects that planes are deviating from the prescribed route should immediately report it to Gatwick, using the email address noise.line@gatwickairport.com
The fears of local residents, many of whom bought their houses specifically for their peaceful surroundings having researched the Gatwick routes in advance, are that this is simply a prelude to making a more concerted case for a second runway at Gatwick. I have no idea whether this is true.
But there is no doubt at all that the misery currently being experienced by local residents foreshadows what would be a permanent feature of life in the area if a second runway were to be built to the south of the existing one. I have made my opposition to a second Gatwick runway many times in public and private, and am happy to reiterate this now.
The demands it would make on our stretched infrastructure would be, in my view, unsupportable given the amount of development already in the pipeline which is being carefully planned to grow the community in a sustainable way.
Given the strength of the reaction to this trial, which suggests that it is not proving successful, I hope that it will not be necessary for the experiment to last for the full six months. I am in the meantime making urgent enquiries at the highest levels of all the agencies involved and will be visiting Warnham on Sunday to support residents and experience the issue for myself.
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Surrey and Sussex MPs oppose Gatwick runway ‘disaster’
Five MPs have begun a campaign against the building of a 2nd Gatwick runway. The Conservative MPs, who represent Sussex, Surrey and Kent constituencies, said the scheme for the airport near Crawley would be “a disaster” for communities and the environment – and there was “serious local concern” at the plan. Reigate MP Crispin Blunt, one of the members of the newly-formed Gatwick Coordination Group, said: “If Gatwick expands in the way that’s planned, it will need many tens of thousands of new people working there, and they are all going to need somewhere to live. The airport at the moment are providing a preposterous suggestion that these people are largely going to come from existing communities in Croydon and Brighton. Well I’m afraid that’s just simply not the case.” Mr Blunt also said no new railway line had been proposed and the London to Brighton commuter line was already “the busiest commuter line in the country” and at capacity. The other 4 MPs behind the campaign are Sir Paul Beresford, Sir Nicholas Soames, Sir John Stanley, and Charles Hendry, MP for Wealden. Crawley Conservative MP Henry Smith said he declined to endorse the press release.
https://www.airportwatch.org.uk/?p=21879
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MPs initiate “Gatwick Coordination Group” – saying 2nd runway is not in the local or national interest
MPs Crispin Blunt, Sir Paul Beresford, Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Soames, Rt Hon Sir John Stanley, and Charles Hendry have formed the Gatwick Coordination Group. The Group is established to represent the serious local concern at the plan for a 2nd runway. The MPs’ group released a statement saying they believe a 2nd Gatwick runway would be a disaster for the surrounding communities and environment. They say the level of development, associated with an airport serving nearly three times as many passengers as it does now, would devastate the local environment and leave the UK with its major airport in the wrong place. Also that there is no adequate plan yet presented to provide the necessary infrastructure, of all types, to support this development. “The size of the Gatwick site only lends itself to a single runway airport, serving as a sensible, competitive alternate to London’s main hub airport. While they pursue that objective, Gatwick Airport Limited will have our support, but this proposal is not in the local interest, nor is it in the national interest, and this group will work to prove that case.”
https://www.airportwatch.org.uk/?p=21867
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There is a lot of information about the flight path trial, and the current Gatwick airport consultation on future changes to its airspace, at http://www.sussexgreenliving.co.uk/2014/06/gatwick-airport-new-flight-path-consultation/
Gatwick Airport New Flight Path Consultation
Post submitted on behalf of CAGNE – Communities Against Gatwick Noise Emissions. This page tells you where to find more information about the new flight path plan and what you can do to object.
Your Action is Needed Now!
Online consultation:
Please participate, there is a deadline of 14th August, Gatwick Airport are looking to change Noise Preferential Routes and your home could be affected. The changes would bring a constant stream of planes, very low over communities not affected by planes before – forever!
The consultation and online response form are at www.gatwickairport.com/gatwickairspaceconsultation.
Suggested answers can be found on this page.
You can also send a response with a covering letter to: FREEPOST RSLG ATKL LBAE, Gatwick Consultation, Ipsos MORI, Research Services House, Elmgrove Road, Harrow HA1 2QG.
(However, Gatwick Airport do not guarantee receiving posted letters unless they are sent recorded).
Details and a lot of information at
http://www.sussexgreenliving.co.uk/2014/06/gatwick-airport-new-flight-path-consultation/
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