THERE is just one week left to have your say on possible expansion plans for Gatwick Airport.

The 12-week public consultation on the draft master plan closes at 5pm on January 10.

Airport bosses say Gatwick’s plans will provide new opportunities for the South East and bolster the economy for future generations

But opponents say it is a step too far and must be blocked at all cost.

Stewart Wingate, chief executive Officer, Gatwick Airport, said: “Our draft master plan outlines some low-impact and highly innovative ways of unlocking new capacity from within our existing infrastructure.

“This will provide the UK with much needed new capacity, improve the airport’s resilience and generate new opportunities for the South East and its economy for generations to come.

“With only one week left, I would encourage as many people as possible to take part in our ongoing consultation on our draft master plan, including anyone who wants to show their support for the airport’s exciting vision for the future.”

The three scenarios are:

1. Main runway - using new technology to increase capacity in the near term offering incremental growth through more efficient operations.

2. Standby runway – potentially bringing Gatwick’s existing standby runway into routine use for departing flights, alongside its main runway, by the mid-2020s. This development would meet all international safety requirements and would be delivered without increasing the airport’s noise footprint and provide greater operational resilience.

3. Additional runway - while not actively pursuing the option of building a new runway to the south of the airport – Gatwick believes it is in the national interest to continue to safeguard this land for the future.

Protest group CAGNE, Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions, is fighting the plan.

A spokesman said: “It will blight the South East property market.

“The expansion of Gatwick will inevitably result in the mass urbanisation of rural communities, changing the attraction of these areas to buyers and raising fears of declining air quality and subsequent health risks.

“Gatwick proudly details that their noise contours have reduced, but the noise complaints have not, nor has the distance from which they originate which is way outside the acknowledged noise contours.”