Joking aside, it’s LCY they want to be rather than Gatters. Shoreham’s new owners bought/took a long term lease (or whatever) the place for a large number of ackers and they want a return on their investment (perfectly reasonable).
In order to do this, they will doubtless want to develop the place along the lines proposed by the airport and the previous owners (Brighton and Worthing Councils). This includes the construction of a new runway of 1,199m (or LCY length)
Certainly, the existing proposals (on the website) present a variety of alignments but since the ones that best avoid built up areas (and align better with the prevailing winds) will call for an approach over the higher ground to the northeast so I suspect they are going to have to have a steep approach (in EASA speak that is one 4.5 deg or steeper) which means LCY type operations – which means Q400s F50s E-170s 146s and up to A318s (don’t forget this last type will have LCY capability very soon). Clearly then it will need a new terminal the existing one won’t be able to deal with the proposed pax numbers (actually they’d like a new railway station too – multimodal don’t you know?)
The other thing is they intend keeping the movement limits to 100,000 per year – and you do you think will get those the A318 with a hundred happy duty free shoppers (and airport charge payers) or Joe Blow off to bash circuits in a Traumahawk.
Great, it won’t be a housing estate, but for GA the net result might well be the same. UK airport owners don’t seem to develop co-existence strategies.
Not convinced? I present in the south…Southampton (GA squeezed out) or what about Bournemouth (doing their best to price it out)?