London Gatwick: Website where people can submit views on runway plans re-opens after closing a day early

A week has passed since the PINS website for submissions to oppose Gatwick Airport’s plans for a new runway was closed a day early – closed on October 28 not October 29.

"We appreciate the confusion and concern the premature closure will have caused, which it has transpired was due to a software update that affected the date setting within the representation portal. Unfortunately, Gatwick was the first project to close its representation portal following the update,” stated a PINS spokesperson.

“I want to reassure you that we are working with the Applicant to re-open the Relevant Representation period for the project to allow submission of representations by those who were unable to on Sunday, and any other person who may wish to do so. We cannot yet state when the representation period will re-open; I hope that this will be next week, however the Applicant will need to publicise this via press notices and letters which cannot occur immediately. This is to ensure that the re-opening is publicised effectively.”

SEE ALSO London Gatwick Northern Runway plans: Councils submit string of concerns to government-appointed panel | More than 55,000 businesses pledge support for Gatwick Airport’s northern runway plans | Two Crawley businesses get multi-million-pound contracts from Gatwick airport for redevelopment of North Terminal lounge

On Monday (November 6) the planning inspectorate re-opened the website until 23.59pm on November 19. Registration link - https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/TR020005/register/register-have-your-say

A spokesperson for CAGNE (Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions) said: “The momentum of residents submitting Relevant Representation has now passed and many have given up. The campaigning by CAGNE to raise public awareness of this environmental disaster in-the-making has lost pace, due to this premature closure of the site – so the only winners to date are Gatwick’s owners, that seek to profit from voters’ misery with 386,000 flights a year and 76m passengers and workers on the roads and rail – whilst the planet can expect an additional 0.5m to 1.5m tonnes of extra carbon from two runways, with flights 24/7.”