Forest Green Village - Latest News

No chance to say No to new Gatwick runway.

From a recent press release from the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign:

Gatwick Airport’s runway consultation, to be launched on 4 April, must be revised to include a box for people to tick if they want no new runway. That is the demand made by GACC. If it is not done, GACC say the consultation will be ‘phoney’. It will be a NO ‘NO’ vote!

It is understood that, as at present planned, the consultation will provide no simple way for the public to vote for ‘no new runway’. It is obvious, say GACC, that the airport will report the results as showing a big majority in favour – just because those against have been given no chance to say so.

‘There is some similarity, said GACC chairman Brendon Sewill, ‘with the recent poll in Crimea where the public were not given the option of keeping things as they were.’

Another reason why GACC describes the Gatwick consultation as bogus is because the Airports Commission has already announced that it will be focussing on the largest option. And the airport also say that this is their preferred choice.[i] So the outcome of the consultation is pre-ordained. ‘Whichever option the public choose,’ added Sewill, ‘the decision has already been taken.’

By resurrecting the option of a close-parallel runway, the airport is fooling the public into thinking they can support something somewhat less damaging without realising this option has already been ruled out - and that a vote for any option will be counted as a vote in favour of a new runway.

Local consultations to be held at:

Dorking
Date: Thursday 1 May
Time: 4pm to 7.30pm
Venue: Masonic Hall, Dorking Halls, RH4 1SG

Horsham
Date: Saturday 3 May
Time: 11am to 3.30pm
Venue: Drill Hall, RH12 1JF

Noise obscured

At a noise seminar held on 19 March Gatwick Airport paraded a number of technological advances. But what they obscured was that:

• The latest official figures show the number of people suffering serious annoyance has gone up by 16 %; [ii]

• concentrating flight paths may mean fewer people affected but at the cost of misery for those under the narrow flight path;

• new flight paths over peaceful areas (Warnham is a recent example) cause huge anger;

• many such ‘huge anger’ flight paths are planned in future as a result of –

a) the proposed revamping of most flight paths, and

b) a new runway which would mean many new flight paths over quiet areas.

[iii]

[i]

http://www.mediacentre.gatwickairport.com/News/London-Gatwick-to-consult-publicly-on-second-runway-options-8d5.aspx

[ii] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/244530/lgw-2012.pdf

[iii] See map of possible new flight paths. www.gacc.org.uk/the-runway-issue

26th Mar 2014