‘More information needed’ on Gatwick plans, councillors say
County council calls for more details on expansion plans
Some West Sussex county councillors have appealed to colleagues to ‘get off the fence’ and stop ‘sitting on their hands’ when it comes to the possibility of expansion at Gatwick Airport.
During a meeting of the full council, members debated a notice of motion calling for ‘evidence and assurance’ from the airport about how it would lessen the impact of opening its emergency runway for fulltime use.
While Garry Wall (Con, Lindfield & High Weald), who tabled the motion, said the council needed more information before it could take a firm position, others strongly disagreed.
Kirsty Lord (Lib Dem, Hassocks & Burgess Hill South) called on the council to be as ‘bold’ as Crawley and Horsham councils, which have both come out against expansion.
She asked: “Are you really that scared of standing up now and letting residents know what you are thinking about Gatwick expansion?”
An amendment submitted by Ms Lord calling on the council to oppose the northern runway plans was not accepted for debate as it was ruled to be a new proposition, rather than an amendment to the motion.
She said: “We have a climate change strategy we’re committed to and it isn’t compatible with anything other than opposing Gatwick expansion.
“If we don’t come out clearly against this expansion, then the climate change strategy may be seen as little more than greenwashing.”
Mr Wall said the motion was about giving the council flexibility to take a stance once it had learned more.
He added: “We are still at the beginning of a long planning process. More information and a better understanding of all aspects of theses proposals are needed before we establish our position.
“And this notice puts [Gatwick] and all our stakeholders on notice that we take our involvement seriously and will be firm and diligent on behalf of our residents.”
The consultation into using the emergency runway ends on
December 1.
Steve Waight (Con, Goring) said: “This is the first bite of what will be a very big cherry. This is not our only opportunity to state our position.
“There’s an awful lot of technical information – almost 2,000 pages – that our officers have.
“And they simply haven’t had time to go through it all and say what they think is sound and what they have concerns over.”
Mr Waight added that the council would be in a ‘much stronger position’ if it based its position on fact ‘rather than simply on what our preconceived views are’.
Gatwick was recognised as a carbon-neutral airport in 2017.
Theconsultationdocuments include a commitment that airports and the government were working to deliver a number of green initiatives such as sustainable aviation fuel and the development of electric, hydrogen, or hybrid aircraft.
Dr James Walsh (Lib Dem, Littlehampton East) said these ideas were all ‘aspirational, embryonic and decades away from potential realisation’.
He added: “This is no time for councillors to sit on our hands and take a ‘business as usual’ approach or not to actively oppose this.
“The time to stand up is now – to demonstrate to our residents that we actually mean what we say with the climate emergency and are not prepared to vacillate and not to take a position on it.
“Let’s put down that marker now.”
While many councillors were not happy with the
Northern Runway proposals, saying they were illogical, came with very little hard evidence and were little more than bringing in a second runway by the back door, Mr Wall’s motion was carried.