LETTER: Huge impact of second runway

It’s a bit like sales leaflets that come through the door, you have to read between the lines; you could suggest this of the latest Gatwick ‘promises’ leaflet.

Firstly Heathrow does not see Gatwick as competition as it specialises in low cost airlines. Gatwick’s competitors are Stansted and Luton.

Gatwick plays on the misery of Heathrow but is quite happy to dump an airport larger than Heathrow here next to our front doors.

No evidence has been provided of any businesses wanting to move to this area due to Gatwick expansion, so what quality jobs?

Gatwick Airport, or those that support Gatwick expansion, have supplied no evidence of economic benefits to support claims.

We are being fed sales one-liners in the hope we will not read the small print.

The small print is that airlines and big business do not support Gatwick expansion. Twelve local authorities recognise the burden on their counties will be immense and yet Gatwick keeps printing one-liners in the hope that we do not look for facts.

The Airports Commission recognises that there would have to be 90,000 low skilled workers needed so where are these to come from when Gatwick is surrounded by one to two per cent unemployment?

Are we expecting our children to fill the low skilled jobs at Gatwick that is reliant upon the volatile holiday trade for business?

These inward migrating workers will move into West Sussex with their families looking for homes, GPs and add to the road congestion. Please note Crawley is full with 3,000 currently on affordable housing waiting list and they are not alone.

It is simply not true that the Government, ie us taxpayers, will not have to pay for Gatwick expansion as who is going to pay the billions for new road infrastructure when Gatwick is recognised as bringing the least into the UK economy.

Gatwick exports 71.2 per cent of UK travellers and 85 per cent travel for leisure, so not much money coming into the UK economy then.

Gatwick is owned by off-shore owners.

So with this county, and the UK, looking at a massive deficit is it right to be looking to plough billions into an airport that can never be the future for our economy or aviation?

And if we are talking future generations then talk climate change as you might be able to ignore it now but our children and their children will not be able to as with Gatwick will come more cars and already areas around Gatwick have issues with pollution as they did in 2012.

To build a new runway in the South East will breach the climate change targets and regional airports will have to reduce capacity to allow a new southern runway to be used.

So much for creating a self-funding northern powerhouse, more like creating an overcrowded, congested, polluted South.

SALLY PAVEY

CAGNE, Mayes Lane, Warnham