London Gatwick: Campaign group ready to serve Judicial Review over runway plans - but needs help with funding

Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions (CAGNE) has been fighting the plans since their inception seven years again.

The airport were expecting a decision by the Secretary of State for Transport in February, but it was delayed as Heidi Alexander said that she was ‘minded to approve’ the plans, provided certain conditions related to noise and public transport are met. A decision is now expected by the end of October.

If the decision is in Gatwick’s favour, CAGNE have said they will continue to oppose the plans – but said they need help with funding. In a statement they said: “CAGNE is your umbrella aviation community and environment group for Sussex, Surrey, and Kent. Earlier this year, CAGNE successfully convinced the Planning Inspectorate to oppose a new runway at Gatwick Airport, but the Secretary of State for Transport (SoS) appears to have decided otherwise, with ‘minded to approve’.

“With an award-winning legal team and qualified team of experts, funded by residents and environmental charities, CAGNE led the way in opposing Gatwick’s plans. Throughout the planning hearings, the team held Gatwick's team accountable like never before - over noise, lack of surface transport, inadequate wastewater treatment capacity, decline in air quality, and - most importantly - the impact of another runway on the planet!

“It is up to the Secretary of State for Transport to make the final decision, by 27th October. If the SoS says 'yes’, the CAGNE team is ready to serve a Judicial Review (JR), but we will need help with further funding.”

“This is a call to action, as residents have already raised considerable funds, but we now ask residents of Sussex, Surrey and Kent to put your hands in your pockets again, as we prepare to serve a Judicial Review. Whatever you can afford will help.”

Gatwick have made amendments to their original plans throughout the process after recommendations by the Planning Inspectorate and the Transport Secretary and CEO Stewart Wingate told SussexWorld recently he believes his team have give the Government a ‘pathway forward to approve’ the plans.

Mr Wingate said: “This project represents a £2.2bn investment, fully funded by our shareholders and it is essential that any planning conditions enable us to make full use of the Northern Runway. We are confident that our amended proposals will allow us to grow sustainably and meet passenger demand, while addressing the matters raised by the Secretary of State in her letter, including noise and environmental impacts.

“Growth is at the heart of the Government’s agenda and we are fully supportive of the drive to work with businesses to create good quality jobs, reignite the economy and drive innovation around the country. Our plans will create 14,000 jobs and generate £1bn a year in economic benefits. By increasing resilience and capacity we can also support the UK’s position as a leader in global connectivity and deliver substantial trade and economic growth in the South East and beyond.

“We look forward to receiving the Secretary of State’s final decision later this year."

A CAGNE spokesperson added: “There are many flaws in Gatwick’s case for a new runway - and we already know them, as previously explained to the Planning Inspectorate through robust reports by our qualified experts.

“A new runway at Gatwick Airport will cost the taxpayer dearly (as did the new station), with significant increase in noise from two runways operating concurrently from 6.20am till 11.30 at night to reach 486,000 flights a year. The pressure on the inadequate surface transport and public transport will not just impact the areas immediately around Gatwick, but will be far-reaching, as workers and 80m flyers endeavour to travel to and from the airport. It will, in turn, place greater pressure on the lack of hospitals, affordable housing, and wastewater treatment plants, and will impact air quality outside homes. This will all cost the taxpayer, and cause immeasurable environmental damage.

“What Gatwick proposes is an unacceptable cocktail of negatives for us all, and the planet. We will be ready to fight for all, to continue to oppose what is an unsustainable proposal.”