Mims Davies MP's Statement on Gatwick Expansion Approval
On Sunday 21st September, Heidi Alexander MP, the current Secretary of State for Transport in this Labour Government, approved the second runway plan at Gatwick Airport. This was released directly to the press and I first heard, like many, via social media.
The timing of the announcement, made over the Parliamentary recess when the House of Commons is not sitting, denied MPs any opportunity to discuss and debate this plan, or even to meet and hear directly from Ministers.
Rather than setting out the plan in a statement to the House, the Government chose to do so via a newspaper column. Not a letter of formal confirmation or even an email to local MPs on the day and I only received correspondence on the following Monday morning after I flagged this publicly.
Let me be clear; this is greatly insulting to my constituents and the constituents of other local MPs whose lives will be affected by this important decision, both by the jobs and opportunities it brings along with the many challenges and changes it will bring to our area and our lives.
This decision by the Labour Government will mean Gatwick Airport could be used for an additional 100,000 flights a year with annual passenger numbers rising from 45 million to 75 million in the future. This local airport is a key employer and important economic driver, but I have always been clear as a local MP that Gatwick must be a good neighbour striving to work with local communities.
Since February, when the Secretary of State for Transport gave the conditional approval to a development consent order application by Gatwick to bring its emergency runway into routine use, constituents have been writing to me and I understand the news over the weekend will be disappointing for many of them who have written to me with serious concerns about an increase in aircraft noise, air pollution, climate change targets, and other environmental issues.
My job as the MP for East Grinstead, Uckfield, and the villages is to make sure we achieve the best possible outcomes for my constituents whilst ensuring this Labour Government delivers the vital and key infrastructure we need to accommodate the expansion they have committed to.
To that end, I have had regular meetings with the Gatwick leadership team to share the concerns of my constituents around this process and other surface travel issues, particularly east/west, including connectivity, the lack of bus and rail links and road capacity in order to protect the environment, minimise noise and tackle increased air pollution while still creating the jobs we need in our local communities.
We met most recently again when my team and I attended a site visit to Gatwick Airport focused on skills, and I shall be meeting with them again at Party Conference to discuss this decision by the Government.
We need to roundly ensure we strike a positive balance between the clear and vital economic benefits and jobs which an expanded Gatwick can bring to our area while maintaining standards and environmental protections which many people, although proud of this local airport, are deeply worried about too.
Importantly, we must ensure local people, our communities, and key stakeholders such as the railways receive a fair deal and uncertainties around future changes in airspace, additional noise, surrounding infrastructure, housing and transport needs as well as the environment are properly addressed.
I can assure residents I will continue to push for the upgrades we need on our roads and railways, the easing of rail bottlenecks at Croydon and road queues at Felbridge amongst many others, champion key infrastructure projects such as the Brighton Mainline 2 linking Uckfield, Lewes and Brighton, work to improve bus services to Crawley from East Grinstead, vastly improve our East/West connectivity and upgrade diesel trainlines.
The expansion of Gatwick Airport is now clearly going to happen under this Labour Government, and we must do all we can to harness it to our advantage. I will work tirelessly to get the best possible outcomes for my constituents and continue to flag their wants and needs.
We must ensure local people and local communities’ benefit from the changes this Government decision will bring in our part of Sussex and wider.
