Agenda and minutes

Councillor Stockwell nominated Cllr Walker as Chairman of this meeting of the Joint Committees. This was seconded by Councillor M. Hersey. There were no further nominations and Councillor Walker was duly elected.

RESOLVED

Councillor Walker was elected as Chairman of the Joint Committee for the duration of this meeting.

The Chairman nominated Cllr Stockwell as Vice-Chairmanand this was seconded by Councillor De Mierre.

RESOLVED

Councillor Stockwell was elected as Vice-Chairman of the Joint Committee for the duration of this meeting.

Councillor Bradbury substituted for Councillor Mockford. Councillor Moore substituted for Councillor E Belsey.

Apologies were received from Councillor Mockford, Councillor Edward Belsey, Cllr Margaret Belsey, Councillor Barrett Miles, Councillor Marples, Councillor Whittaker, Councillor Reed, Councillor Andrew Lea, Councillor Hatton, Councillor Wall, Councillor Ash-Edwards and Councillor Llewellyn-Burke.

None.

None.

The Chairman noted that Gatwick Airport Limited (GAL) is required to produce a new Masterplan every 5 years. The current masterplan was adopted in 2012, and the draft Masterplan proposes three options for growth, to 2032. The Committee has been convened to consider Mid Sussex District Council’s initial response to the draft Masterplan.

Lois Partridge, Business Unit Leader for Planning Policy and Economy introduced the report and took Members through the options, set out mechanisms to engage in the future, and described the Council’s proposed response. The Masterplan sets out the plan for the next five years and includes three growth options which look 5-15 years ahead to 2032.  She noted that there has been significant growth at the airport since the last plan was adopted in 2012. The National Policy Statement has also confirmed the Government’s intention to proceed with a third runway at Heathrow, and the Government has published its guidance for airports other than Heathrow. 

The Business Unit Leader confirmed that the Council’s response supports the principle of sustainable growth at Gatwick Airport however the current plan is not supported by a strong evidence base in a number of key areas. The Council reserves the right to comment in due course once more detailed information has been provided. The draft consultation response is included in Appendix 1 of the report. She summarised the three options proposed by GAL:

Option 1 is to make best use of the existing runway by using larger aircraft, through the changes to flight patterns caused by the airspace modernisation programme, and by increasing the number of flights in off peak times. Together these measures could increase passenger numbers to up to 61 million passengers per year. Until more details are known and the impacts on flightpaths are understood, it is difficult to comment in detail on this proposal.

Option 2 proposes to make best use of the existing standby runway. GAL’s legal agreement with West Sussex County Council signed in 1979 precludes the simultaneous use of this runway with the main runway. This option proposes to seek planning consent through a Development Consent Order (DCO) to use the standby runway for departures of smaller aircraft alongside the operation of the main runway. The DCO process is used for nationally significant infrastructure projects, and this would class as such as it proposes an increase of more than 10 million passengers. The Council will expect to be fully involved in the consultation on the DCO process.

Option 3 proposes safeguarding land for an additional runway to the south. There is no immediate plan to build this, but it would generate up to 95 million passengers.

A number of Members commented on the well-structured report and agreed that at this stage it is appropriate that the Council provide a high level response, until further detail is provided by GAL. It was noted that there was limited information provided by GAL on air quality, noise and highways issues at this stage.

 Members raised the need for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

None.