Gatwick Airport. Pic: Chris_J

Croydon is set to benefit “most” from a potential expansion of Gatwick, after the council signed a memorandum of understanding with the airport.

Council leader Tony Newham signed the Memorandum Of Understanding with Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate at the Develop Croydon Conference on Tuesday.

Gatwick’s proposal to build a second runway could see up to 36,000 new jobs created. 22,000 of which will be directly related to the airport with another 14,000 more created in the South London area.

The MoU would see a £3.75m fund raised by Gatwick airport for apprenticeships across a range of professions, not all of which will be strictly limited to aviation.

Russell Guthrie, senior media campaigns manager for Gatwick airport, has said that “a significant proportion” of these will be invested in Croydon. However, opportunities will also be available across the southeast.

A further £46.5m has been pledged by the airport to contribute £5000 for every new house built in an effort to improve Croydon’s infrastructure.

The news comes just days after Kent council pulled their support for an expansion of Gatwick saying: “The noise impact on West Kent from Gatwick’s current single runway configuration is already unacceptable and a potential doubling of these impacts with a second runway would be intolerable.”

Wingate said: “The agreement we’ve signed today will help ensure that Croydon’s residents can realise these benefits to the full.”

Newham has described the borough as being “on the brink of Olympic-scale transformation”, a sentiment echoed by architect Sir Terry Farrell.

Another meeting concerning plans to create a second runway at Gatwick will take place on December 1.