Surrey County Council has signed up to an agreement to protect the interests of residents in the face of any possible future development of Gatwick Airport.

The council's Executive adopted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which ensures that West Sussex County Council and Crawley Borough Council take the interests of the other affected local authorities fully into account when determining planning applications relating to the airport.

Surrey County Council will have some special responsibilities within the agreement. The council will contribute technical support to the implementation of the Gatwick Surface Access Strategy, explore opportunities to extend the Fastway quality bus service and carry out traffic counts and travel surveys.

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The council will also work with Crawley and West Sussex councils to address unauthorised car parking, to press the Department of Transport to introduce noise reduction measures on the M23 and to support initiatives designed to encourage journeys to and from the airport by other means than by car.

The MOU encourages the councils to cooperate with each other on a number of issues, including transport and highway improvements, air quality management and the impact of increased employment and housing demand associated with the growth of airport activities.

David Munro, Surrey County Council's Executive Member for Transport, said: "I am very pleased that Surrey County Council is adopting and signing this Memorandum of Understanding which will promote and protect the interests of our residents where future development of Gatwick Airport is concerned."

(CD/JM)