Runaway Plan

By Laura Brook, Conservation Officer

The application for a second runway at Gatwick Airport was accepted by the Planning Inspectorate on 3 August. It will now progress to the next stage in the process, a lengthy ‘examination’ that will decide whether it can go ahead or not.

This comes hot on the heels of the Climate Change Committee’s recent progress report and the Sixth Carbon Budget, which made a clear recommendation that ‘there should be no net expansion of UK airport capacity unless the sector is on track to sufficiently outperform its net emissions trajectory.’ As yet, we have seen no evidence this is the case.

In our view, proposals to expand airport capacity should not even be coming forward during a time of climate crisis, and we want to see decision makers take the concerns of experts seriously. The government has set a legally binding target for reaching net zero, yet here we see a proposal that will enable more flights at Gatwick and increase carbon emissions, in direct opposition to this target.

The Gatwick proposal is classified as a National Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) and as such it doesn’t follow the normal process you might be aware of for planning applications. Instead, the Secretary of State appoints a planning inspector, and the proposal is determined through the process of a Development Consent Order (DCO).

The proposal itself will see the existing emergency runway at Gatwick brought into routine use, with the aim of increasing the airport’s flight capacity. New infrastructure to support this expansion would include carparks, hotels and new road junctions.

We have not had advance access to any environmental information, and there are hundreds of documents to consider. We will need time to assess all the information and the impacts on biodiversity. The first step is for the Trust to register as an interested party so that we can submit formal comments during the Development Consent Order 'examination' process, which is likely to last for up to six months.

Sussex Wildlife Trust is clear that climate change is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity and we fundamentally oppose an additional runway at Gatwick, which will enable more flights and increase carbon emissions. The decisions the UK makes now in response to the climate crisis will define our ability to restore nature, reduce carbon emissions and adapt to climate change so that we can secure a positive future for both wildlife and people.

You can keep up to date with Sussex Wildlife Trust response to the proposals for an additional runway at Gatwick on our website here.