LETTER: Risks of building on floodplains

The new runway at Gatwick is about making areas of outstanding natural beauty, such as Leigh Hill, the number one plane spotting location as planes arrive and leave Gatwick every other minute.

It’s about having to timetable when you can sit in your garden so that you are able to hear yourselves talking.

It’s about forcing wildlife from natural habitat to the carnage of speedway roads and country lanes.

It’s about transforming our area to resemble the outskirts of Heathrow.

Just thinks of the thousands of people that will be filling our overcrowded rail carriages and the road congestion because of Gatwick expanding.

The infrastructure investment to support an airport the size of Heathrow runs into billions; who will pay?

Gatwick was flooded over Christmas but it’s not the first time. Water has to go somewhere, it does not just disappear.

If we keep building on what are natural floodplains we can only expect more homes to be under water, covered with sewage due to inadequate investment in plants, as asphalt and bricks cover green fields.

With the official forecasts of flooding becoming an increasing problem why is a new runway being built in an area that was given flood warnings by the Environment Agency over Christmas?

If a couple of West Sussex councillors like sitting in traffic jams, over-crowded railway carriages, in favour of urbanisation, the destruction of the countryside and farming then build a new runway at Ardingly or Goodwood.

Negotiate, draw up plans, but I can’t see the hedge fund that owns Gatwick supplying the infrastructure funding as they are looking for returns from the FOR SALE sign as Gatwick is a loss-making airport.

Although, according to national press, the boss at Gatwick was paid over a £1million.

Wonder what the bonus will be for destroying of our corner of Sussex?

SALLY PAVEY

Mayes Lane,

Warnham