Issue - meetings

The Campaign Against Gatwick Noise Emissions (CAGNE) have also been invited to make representations to the meeting

The Committee considered a report about Gatwick Airport Limited’s (GAL) intention to use the current standby (northern) runway, in addition to the main runway, as part of its routine operations. This reflected ‘scenario 2’ of GAL’s 2019 masterplan for future growth and would require the seeking of a Development Consent Order to obtain planning permission. A DCO application for this purpose was being prepared by GAL and a public consultation process was scheduled for the later in the year followed by a final DCO submission to the Planning Inspectorate early in 2022. The process would culminate in a public examination of the proposals and the Planning Inspector’s recommendations to the Secretary of State for Transport for decision.

The report recommended that representations be made to GAL conveying the Council’s expectations for the northern runway consultation process; the need for GAL to explain the impact of additional flight capacity upon the District; and disappointment that GAL’s plans appeared to be incompatible with 2050 climate neutral objectives. Councillor Botten proposed amendments to the recommendations, namely:

·                two additional resolutions (A and B below); 

·                addition of the words “and regrets” at the beginning of resolution C below, i.e.:

“The Council acknowledges and regrets Gatwick Airport Limited’s (GAL) decision to continue with the Development Consent Order to redevelop the northern runway as a second runway to increase capacity …”

·                the deletion of the following words from the end of Resolution E below:

“Whilst the Council is not against the use of planes for business and leisure and recognises the economic and social advantages, it is concerned about the environmental impacts, short and long term, that significant growth at Gatwick will have on the District.”

The Campaign Against Gatwick Noise Emissions (CAGNE) had been invited to submit representations to the meeting and a video recording of a statement from Sally Pavey (a CAGNE member) was duly replayed to the Committee. The statement urged the Council to oppose GAL’s growth proposals, asserting that the additional runway capacity would have significantly negative environmental impacts and that new ‘greener’ jobs were needed to create a more sustainable economy for the area, without a disproportionate reliance on Gatwick.

During the debate, it was suggested that the Council should not be submitting representations in isolation and should, instead, collaborate with neighbouring Local Authorities and benefit from expert advice which could be commissioned (via funding made available from GAL) more effectively as part of a joint approach. In response, the Chair advised that the Council had signed up to a joint agreement with other Councils to engage with GAL but considered that, given the timescales, in was important for the matter to be considered at this meeting from a Tandridge perspective. Other Members supported the case for Tandridge to submit its own representations prior to any multi-agency submission. 

Other Members argued against the proposed amendments on the grounds that:

·                there was no basis to the assertion that “the case for airport expansion at Gatwick or anywhere else” has not been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50