https://crawleychamber.co.uk/wp-content/themes/engic/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg 150 150 Crawley Chamber of Commerce Crawley Chamber of Commerce https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b00c318950602929b4f5da309e44e750?s=96&d=mm&r=g 25th September 2013 25th September 2013

Councillors urged to back expansion

25th September 2013
Crawley Chamber of Commerce

Councillors urged to back expansion

Information courtesy of Crawley News 25/09/2013

Report by Chris Ballinger
Business leader claims 50,000 jobs at stake
BUSINESS leaders have called on councillors to follow their lead and give their support to a second runway at Gatwick Airport.
Crawley Borough Council’s 37 councillors will vote tomorrow (Thursday) on whether or not to give their backing to the airport’s ambitious expansion plans.
As they consider which way to vote, local business chiefs have warned them of the danger of dismissing the idea.
And council officers have recommended their councillors should vote in favour of a second runway at this stage.
Each councillor will have three choices which put simply are not to support a second runway, to offer no view or to give their support.
Council officers have recommended members choose the last option due to “the national significance of Gatwick and its contribution to the economy”.
Paul Roe, Crawley and Gatwick Chamber of Commerce’s transport. member, hopes councillors will follow their officers’ recommendation.
He said: “We want Gatwick’s proposals developed to see if it will be good for the area.
“Our members were so overwhelmingly in favour of responsible and sustainable growth at Gatwick that we didn’t think it was necessary to fully debate it.
“We are in favour of a second runway. But we recognise the area will need investment and infrastructure work, including road and rail as well as housing.”
Labour councillors have been told they will be free to vote whichever way they choose.
Conservative members were meeting as the News went to press last night (Tuesday) to make a group decision but Tory leader Howard Bloom has already expressed his preference for a free vote.
Bob Lanzer, the council’s cabinet mem¬ber for planning and economic development, says members are not under pressure to opt in favour of expansion.
Certain
But business leaders are certain a second runway should be supported at this stage for the future economic prosperity of the town.
Gatwick Diamond Business chief exec-utive Jeremy Taylor said: “I believe option three is the right move for the council.
“The most important thing at this stage is that the borough council leaves the door open to remain in the discussion and negotiation process.
“Selecting the first option could take them out of the decision process in the future.”
Mr Taylor added that when a decision is made on where in the South East to build a new runway it will create a huge number of jobs for the successful area.
“If the next runway was to be built elsewhere we could lose 6,000 aviation jobs and a similar number of outside jobs,” he said.”So if we do not get a second runway and we are being optimistic about job losses, we would be looking at 10,000.
“Then if you look at a Gatwick Airport study it claims we could get around 19,000 aviation jobs from a second runway and a further 20,000 jobs could come forward.
“This is close to a 40,000 job increase and 50,000 swing in total.”
The plans have been condemned by the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign which has raised fears about pollution, noise and traffic.
But Gatwick bosses say the environ¬mental impact would be minimal com¬pared to other options which the Airports Commission are almost certain to con¬sider, such as building an extra runway at Heathrow
West Sussex County Council and Kent County Council have both already announced their support for a second run-way at this stage.
– The matter will be considered by Craw¬ley Borough Council at the Town Hall from 7.30pm tomorrow.

Councillors urged to back expansion

Crawley Chamber of Commerce

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