Voice of The Argus

Air of doubt over runway
January 24, 2002

Gatwick is not the ideal site for an airport. It's prone to fog and lies close to thousands of homes.

Yet it is one of the biggest single-runway airports in the world and the largest employer by a long air mile in Sussex.

For many years, there have been plans to expand Gatwick by adding a second runway but these have been steadfastly resisted by West Sussex County Council as the planning authority.

Now a leaked Government report suggests three new runways will be needed in the South-East including, probably, one at Gatwick.

Physically, there is no problem about building the runway.

The question is whether the extra number of flights and the inevitable ground traffic would be an insupportable burden for the area to bear.

This has to be balanced against the enormous extra prosperity a new runway would undoubtedly bring to north and mid Sussex.

When West Sussex set its heart against the second runway, it was many years ago when aircraft were noisy and many of them were low flying.

Times change and any new runway should only be allowed on strict conditions designed to ensure as far as possible that there is no effect on the environment.

Price for prosperity
February28, 2003

There can be no doubting the importance of Gatwick to the economy of Sussex.

It is the world's biggest airport with a single runway and is by far the biggest employer in the county.

However, there is a price to be paid for the prosperity Gatwick creates.

It has taken 7.7sqkm of land, created traffic congestion and caused all sorts of noise and pollution.

The rapid expansion of air transport led the Government last year to launch a review of airports in the South-East.

It was a major surprise when Gatwick was not included and this was successfully challenged.

Now Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has announced three options which would double or even treble the existing capacity.

Even one new runway would lead to the demolition of 430 homes and the loss of green-belt land.

Gatwick has got to play a part in the expansion of air travel but there is a limit to what the area can take.

Mr Darling should rule out right away two new runways, which would lead to the loss of 2,000 acres of land and cause unacceptable environmental damage.

But he will have to look seriously at the case for a second single runway.

There is a limit to how much more traffic Gatwick can take and the danger is that without improvements it could stagnate.