Road haulage and freight groups have reacted with concern to news that a proposed lorry park that was due to be built alongside the M20 in Kent has been shelved.

 

The £250M holding facility at Stanford West was planned as an alternative to Operation Stack, which sees lorries line the motorway when services across the English Channel from Dover are disrupted. 

 

Stack caused chaos on the county’s roads during the summer of 2015. But the proposed lorry park solution was unpopular with local campaigners and became subject to a judicial review.

 

Judges ruled that the scheme could not go ahead because an environmental assessment had not been carried out, and the Government announced last week that it was no longer defending the judicial review. It instead informed the High Court that it was withdrawing its planning application.

 

“I find it beyond belief as to why the most basic of procedures, that of an environmental assessment, was not undertaken simply on the assumption that it was not needed,” commented Road Haulage Association chief executive Richard Burnett. “This facility is of massive importance to hauliers and the people of Kent.”

 

Freight Transport Association’s head of national and regional policy Christopher Snelling described the withdrawal of the application as “a major disappointment" and added that "a proper management of the Stack situation may be many more years off”.

 

Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald added: “The Port of Dover is hugely important to our national economy but this blunder risks trade and traffic grinding to a halt.”

 

Department for Transport has now tasked Highways England with developing new plans for a permanent solution to Operation Stack, with a consultation due to take place next year ahead of a planning application in 2019.

 

An interim plan is also being developed by Highways England to ensure motorists are able to continue using the M20 when there is cross Channel disruption. This could see moveable or steel barriers introduced to safely store lorries in the centre of the motorway.

 

Roads Minister Jesse Norman said: “We know how seriously the lives of Kent residents and the prospects of businesses were affected when Operation Stack was implemented in 2015 and we remain fully committed to a permanent solution.

 

“However, we need to go through the proper procedures to ensure our plans, which include a lorry park, best fit the needs of Kent and the freight industry.”