Parliament was officially opened Wednesday. By the time the County Times is published we will know the Bills the Government will bring forward over the next year. However whatever the national agenda of the day its local issues that will dominate my diary.Fellow Sussex and Surrey MPs and I will shortly be delivering a submission to the Airports Commission Consultation on Air Quality which has been a late addition to the Davies Commission’s considerations. Gatwick Airport on its current configuration is a great asset to the area. However its expansion would produce a massive local impact and serious environmental consequences. There is already huge concern regarding the pace and extent of local building. A green light for Gatwick would require tens of thousands of additional new houses and incremental pressure on all our services.
The existing pressures on local services and infrastructure are the issues most frequently raised with me on the doorstep. For all train users a consistent, reliable service is an absolute essential. It was to raise concerns about our local rail services that Southern area MPs and I met with Claire Perry, the Rail Minister, this week. She is absolutely determined that performance issues, especially unreliability, which has made commuters’ lives miserable, will be gripped. Train users quite rightly have not been slow in letting me know when they have encountered problems with the service but over the next few weeks especially please do let me know particular problems you encounter on the trains by email to jeremy.quin.mp@parliament.uk or at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. This is the start of the process - we will be keeping in close touch with the Minister – and I want to ensure that we do everything possible to improve the service.