The Gatwick Airport second runway consultation, comprising three options, could have disastrous consequences for Crawley.

It appears the consultation will not offer an option to reject all of the options and oppose any second runway.

A second runway could mean that all roads out of Crawley to the north, apart from the M23, will have to be diverted or closed. It could bring the airport, bigger than Heathrow is today, to within half-a-mile of northern neighbourhoods.

With the promise of 19,000 new jobs at the airport, plus additional service companies, there will be a mass inward migration of workers from all over the UK and EU, most requiring housing in the area.

A West Sussex County Council report estimated the need for 40,000 new houses around Gatwick. This will mean the gaps between Crawley and East Grinstead and Horsham, and potentially Balcombe, being diminished with some neighbourhoods potentially becoming dormitories similar to areas around Heathrow.

Along with the vast increase in airport passengers, thousands of additional workers will commute into the area each day by car and train, however our roads are already full and the Brighton Line already at capacity In addition, air and noise pollution will be vastly increased, leading to health problems.

Perhaps when visiting the exhibitions and responding to the consultation, we should all ask ourselves, “Will our children really want to live in such an urbanised and more polluted environment?”

D Meakings, Crawley