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Corporate responsibility matters
Gatwick has a significant role to play in the local, regional and national economy but we also need to be a responsible neighbour. I want to share with you some of the ways we're demonstrating or corporate responsibility.
Last summer we launched a 10 year programme to make Gatwick a more sustainable airport, setting out concrete steps and targets to work towards.
A year later, while we’ve made a lot of progress, we’ve also identified the areas where we need to refocus our efforts and drive further improvements.
Take a look at our 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report and you'll see we've had both successes and challenges over the last 12 months.
We decreased our carbon footprint in 2010 and as a result, secured ACI accreditation to sit alongside the Carbon Trust accreditation achieved in 2009.
We also improved the way we run our buildings, achieving a 10% saving in water usage and a 5% decrease in the amount of airport waste produced. We expect to get even better at this during 2011 as we're appointing a new waste contractor.
On the downside, keeping the airport operational and our passengers comfortable and safe during the exceptionally cold weather and snow last year, meant that our electricity and gas consumption increased in 2010 compared to the previous year.However, we’re confident that measures already taken this year will reverse that trend and we are also looking at the development of a combined cooling heating and power (CCHP) plant here at the airport to increase our use of sustainable energy.
In the air, all our noise performance indicators are moving in the right direction. However, we continue to receive complaints from people affected by aircraft noise and during over the last twelve months we've really tried to improve how we and our airport partners engage with communities affected by aircraft operations.
Corporate responsibility is also about supporting local initiatives and in 2010, we gave £170,000 to the Gatwick Airport Community Trust to distribute to local charities and groups of their choosing. Our plans for 2011 include establishing a food sharing scheme between airport catering companies and a local charity.
These are just a few of the things we're doing - I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas.
5 Comments
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- Tom replies:
- Posted: 6:10pm. Thursday 17 November 2011
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Mark, without knowing the specific airport you refer to in LA it is difficult for me to comment. However at Gatwick aircraft land following a standard three degree glide slope as approved and set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. This approach angle is standard across the world, there are exceptions where some airports may operate a steeper approach but this is only for obstacle avoidance purposes.
Aircraft on approach to Gatwick also follow a continuous descent approach (CDA) that ensures aircraft descend onto the runway in a smooth manner ensuring they are higher for longer. This also has noise benefits for people on the ground. At the moment Gatwick CDA performance stands at over 90% and we are continuing to improve.
It is true that around the world some airports have night flight restrictions in place that may well prevent them from taking off before a given time. At Gatwick aircraft that operate during the night are tightly regulated by the Department for Transport in terms of numbers of aircraft and their noise rating.
At Gatwick over the last five years the number of people affected by noise living inside the 57 decibel contour has reduced by over 60%. The number of noise complaints we receive is also down 40% over a similar time period. However, this certainly doesn't mean that we're complacent - we are still pushing to deliver better performance and to identify new opportunities to reduce and mitigate noise further. We are working on a number of ideas to reduce noise impacts and I hope to be able to expand on these very soon.
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- Mark Faulkner:
- Posted: 8:33pm. Wednesday 16 November 2011
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Noise is my greatest issue. When I landed at LA we had a fast steep decent. I was informed this is a method used to reduce the noise factor. Also, I remember sitting on the runway awaiting the 7am "bell" - no aircraft can take off before 7am - another consideration implemented to help residents. Would Gatwick be able to implement these actions? Can we learn from other countries/airports AND implement successful tried and tested methods of noise reduction?
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- John Byng:
- Posted: 12:30pm. Wednesday 16 November 2011
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It is good to hear that you are installing CCHP. I expect that on such a large site there is scope for a considerable use of solar and ground source energy too. Also good to hear that you are seeking to improve how you engage with communities affected by noise. I hope you will extend that to ensuring that noise is reduced rather than increased. This may mean that expansion plans need to be delayed until new technologies and procedures to reduce noise kick in.
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- Tom replies:
- Posted: 12:06pm. Wednesday 16 November 2011
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Thanks for your question, Jon. As you're aware we're in the middle of an extensive public consulation about all aspects of our master plan. At the end of the consultation we will collate and assess all the key issues raised. Please could you submit your question via our master plan consultation site to ensure it's considered as part of this process www.gatwickairport.com/masterplan.
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- Jon Mitchell:
- Posted: 7:03am. Wednesday 16 November 2011
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Your Master Plan shows that the number of people affected by noise will grow by 60% by 2020 and perhaps sooner. How much new cash will Gatwick be investing in noise management over this period?
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