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Gatwick Airport proposed second runway may bring congestion charge

According to a report by West Sussex County Council, a congestion charge could be brought in at Gatwick Airport if the proposed second runway gets the green light.

If Gatwick wins the battle for the second runway, passengers, staff and even taxi drivers could all be subjected to the new charges.

The report, which forms part of the council’s response to the Airports Commission, stated: “Depending on the scale of charge imposed, and the extent of the scheme (whether it targets passengers, employees and/or taxis), it is possible that traffic generation with the expanded Gatwick Airport could be reduced to 2013 levels.”

Cabinet member for corporate relations Bob Lanzer believes the idea holds merit, he said: “It is an option that I think would be more acceptable if there was strong evidence to show a significant increase in air pollution would happen without it,” he said.

“Without pre-judging a debate into this, I believe there would be technology available, such as automatic number plate recognition cameras, which could be installed at the airport boundary to differentiate between resident vehicles and passengers travelling to the airport.”

The council is yet to give detail on how the congestion charge is to be administered, such as times, the specific location of the charge zone and who would it would apply to.

Introduced in 2003, the London Congestion Charge, is in operation Monday to Friday between 7am and 6pm and costs £11.50 a day.

The Airports Commission was expected to make a recommendation to the Government in June on whether Gatwick or Heathrow should get a new runway.

But now the proposals will face new public consultation to discuss the impact of noise pollution in the surrounding areas.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .