I spoke to local residents about London Gatwick's expansion plans – and these were their concerns

Local residents have voiced their concerns after the Government approved plans for a second runway at London Gatwick.

The £2.2bn second runway plans, which were approved by the Transport Secretary on September 21, would increase capacity by around 100,000 flights a year, meaning passenger numbers could rise to up to 80 million.

The development is expected to add 14,000 local jobs, with the government describing the decision as a “no-brainer” for their economic growth plans.

I spoke to residents from Horley, Copthorne, Smallfield and Crawley to hear what they had to say on the impending expansion.

Using an equal sample from each of the areas surveyed, the overall outlook on the expansion was mixed, with 20 per cent of respondents feeling extremely positive and 15 per cent feeling extremely negative towards the development.

The outlook was balanced with the expansion praised as “good news” by some, focusing on the benefits of increased job opportunities: “I worked at the airport for 32 years; the job opportunities enabled me to buy a house in the area.”

Twenty-six per cent of respondents stated that they would take advantage of these opportunities; however 58 per cent said they would be unlikely too.

Regarding the noise impact on local residents, homeowners near the airport and flight path are able to ask Gatwick to cover the cost of triple-glazed windows.

Those who will be directly under the flight path could have their stamp duty and reasonable moving costs paid by the airport if they choose to sell.

A quarter of survey respondents noted they were ‘highly likely’ or ‘likely’ to consider moving away from the area due to the expansion.

Residents from the neighbouring villages, Smallfield and Copthorne, felt more negative towards the development, expressing a higher likelihood of leaving the area.

This looked evidently linked to the lack of infrastructural links between these villages and the airport, as neither of them is served by a bus that goes directly through the airport.

When asked whether noise, climate impact or local infrastructural capacity was the biggest concern to respondents, 27 per cent noted all, while 25 per cent noted no concern, and 21 per cent noted local infrastructural capacity.

“Infrastructure must be put in place FIRST to ensure no more broken promises.”

Pushing further on infrastructure, 61 per cent of respondents believed that the current infrastructure, local transport and the roads cannot support the expansion.

With regards to road congestion, over half of the respondents described current conditions as “busy” and “extremely busy.”

Out of those who use the trains, there was a consensus that existing services are struggling to cope with demand, while the buses were labelled as “infrequent” and many respondents noted they don’t use bus services as they are too limited.

Residents also reflected on other concerns, notably: parking, water issues and a “lack of GP surgeries, hospitals, dentists, schools and public transport” to keep up with increases in both passengers and new workers.

“I am extremely concerned about the lack of vital public services for us residents in new housing estates. This will only get worse when new jobs are created and more people want to move to the area, creating further demand for new housing estates.”

A resident expressed discontent with the decision amongst the wider climate change policy landscape, passionately questioning: “What happened to climate change?”

One resident argued investments should be made elsewhere in the country: “In a country as small as the UK, there is no need to expand Gatwick when there are airports and communities in the north that might welcome the regeneration, otherwise what is the point of HS2. It does not feel like a joined-up approach to strategic transport and infrastructure.”

Another also reflected on this, arguing that the government should: “Keep the HS2 project going & extend to Manchester airport to spread jobs and European travel hubs across the UK.”