Gatwick Airport objection over planned homes West of Ifield

Wednesday, 26 November 2025 07:00

By Karen Dunn, Local Democracy Reporter @V2RadioSussex

Gatwick Airport Limited (GAL) has objected to plans to build thousands of homes west of Ifield.

A hybrid application from Homes England for 3,000 homes was submitted to Horsham District Council in August.

GAL’s objections cover issues including noise and safety – particularly relating to the risk of bird strikes on aeroplanes.

The company said that grassland meadows, woodland, scrub and hedgerow planting would be acceptable to the north of the site – but no species which produce berries or encouraged birds to roost and nest that close to the airport.

Preparing for any future decision to build another runway on safeguarded land south of the airport, GAL warned that all 3,000 homes would be impacted by aircraft noise – between 3db and 9db above the level at which adverse effects on health and quality of life can be detected.

In its letter of objection, GAL stated: “Whilst the proposals do not physically infringe on land safeguarded for airport growth, it could be incompatible in other ways, for example, when taking into account noise and other environmental considerations, or safeguarding matters associated with the airport’s operation.”

A spokesman for the Save West of Ifield campaign group (SWOI) said: “SWOI welcomes GAL’s objection and believe that Horsham Council should place very significant weight on their concerns.

“Many local residents have expressed their concerns to us and to the council regarding the impact of aircraft noise and pollutants on future residents.

“GAL also note several aspects of the masterplan and building design which could compromise air safety, which must be regarded as totally unacceptable.”

The spokesman said the responses to the hybrid application from the likes of Sport England, The Highways Agency, The Environment Agency, Sussex Wildlife Trust and Thames Water, had been ‘exceptionally negative’ when it came to the information made available with the application.

Thames Water advised that there was insufficient capacity in the waste water network to deal with the requirements of such a large development, without upgrades.

The SWOI spokesman added: “It’s no surprise to us that there are a lot of problems with this application, many of which cannot be mitigated.

“We’ve always known this is an unsuitable site with too many issues, some of which cannot be solved and many others which are too expensive to fix.”

To view the application, log on to public-access.horsham.gov.uk and search for DC/25/1312.

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