Speaking at Thursday’s hearing on Gatwick’s proposals to develop a Northern runway, Andrew Griffith MP raised concerns about the noise from an increased number of flights and worries about pressure on local infrastructure (2nd May).
Mr Griffith was speaking on the first day of the open-floor hearings to represent the views of his constituents who live under the flightpaths.
Mr Griffith said the rurality of many villages, especially in the South Downs, means that the noise of Gatwick flights already disturbs many communities where current flightpaths already overfly rural areas. He said that night flights, especially between 10pm and 7am, are of greater concern, because this can have an impact on people’s wellbeing from disturbed sleep.
He highlighted concerns which have been informed by own his own meetings with parish councils, residents and groups, including the Association of Parish Councils Aviation Group. Andrew said that the proposals made by Gatwick do not benefit the area or propsose to mitigate the impacts that will be felt in villages, including Kirdford, Wisborough Green, West Chiltington and Pulborough.
The MP is also concerned about the impacts on dark skies, where the South Downs National Park is a designated International Dark Skies Reserve. As the founder of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Dark Skies, this he said is something he has worked hard to preserve.
The MP did make the point that he is not against airport expansion generally, recognising that the UK needs more capacity and improve connectivity by air travel, but he said he shares the view that Heathrow would be a better choice for expansion as a global hub for air travel.
Andrew Griffith also shared concerns about the added strain on local infrastructure, especially local public transport and where trains have a low frequency of direct services to the airport. He also pointed out that station car parks are at capacity.
The MP closed his representation by warning that “even with investment – this part of West Sussex will be unable to cope with even a small proportion of the 32 million extra passengers that Gatwick aspires to deliver.”
After the hearing, Andrew Griffith MP said:
“It was important for me to give a voice to the many smaller villages to the south and west of the airport and who have been the forgotten communities in terms of the airport’s consultation and representation but are still greatly affected by noise pollution. This would mean more noise, more congestion and it’s the expansion of the wrong UK airport.”
