Operation Stack Lorry Park
Publication date: 21-04-2008
CPRE Kent is profoundly disappointed, though not in the least surprised, that green land near the Kent Downs AONB is threatened with destruction from a vain bid to sort out the Operation Stack problem.
“We know that Operation Stack has been a nightmare for Kent for far too long,” said CPRE Kent director Dr Hilary Newport, “and we wholly agree with the county council that a solution must be found. But a greenfield lorry park will not address the fundamental causes of Stack – we must not destroy yet more of our green space in a doomed attempt to solve Kent’s congestion problems.
“If road-based freight traffic through Dover is allowed to keep increasing at 10% per year, the biggest lorry park in the world wouldn’t prevent our county being threatened with gridlock,” Dr Newport continued. “Only by reducing the volume of freight coming in to this country, as well as moving more of it by rail and sea, can we hope to make a real difference.
“A lot of the freight thundering through Kent is on its way to places that could be reached by ship, and with the right financial incentives rail could take a far larger share than it currently does.” she said. “At the same time, we can reduce enormously the amount we need to import in the first place, by buying local goods – especially food – whenever possible.
“By becoming more and more addicted to goods shipped in on lorries from abroad, we’re making Kent into little more than a corridor for HGVs,” she said. “A fundamental shift on freight movement policy from national government – along with a concerted attempt from all of us to consume more local produce – can create a real, long-term improvement. Until that happens, KCC will be left to implement a ‘least bad’ remedy, a short-term solution to a long-term problem.”
CPRE Kent advocates the installation of a moveable barrier system both for phases one and two of Operation Stack in the short and medium term (KCC proposes a moveable barrier for phase one only). Longer-term policies of freight reduction – and diversion from our already overcrowded roads – could then be given time to provide the cure our county really needs.