Council will work with airport to assess impact of expansion

The Airports Commission has shortlisted a second runway at Gatwick as one of three favoured options for meeting the country’s air travel needs in the future.

The others were a third runway at Heathrow and plan to lengthen one of the existing runways at Heathrow.

For Gatwick, work begins now to carry out further details study on how expansion would effect the surrounding area, including environmental impact, transport links and the impact on housing targets.

Crawley Borough Council leader Cllr Howard Bloom, said: “We are committed to working with Gatwick Airport Ltd and other local authorities on the detailed assessment of runway options now that Gatwick has been shortlisted as a potential expansion airport.

“Councillors decided to reserve their view on a second runway at Gatwick Airport at an Extraordinary Full Council meeting in September, due to a lack of available evidence.

“We will now work closely with the airport to ensure we have all the information needed to properly assess the positive and negative impacts airport expansion could have on the economy and environment of Crawley.”