Operation Stack in action

by political editor Paul Francis

Plans for a low cost lorry park to cope with Operation Stack are expected to be revealed within weeks.

It comes as MPs and council chiefs stage a summit today to discuss how to solve the problems caused by the implementation of Operation Stack.

Consultants are to deliver a report to county transport bosses setting out options for ‘no frills’ park on a 70-acre site off the M20 near Ashford.

The county council commissioned the report from Jacobs Engineering after it became clear the costs of its original scheme would be prohibitive.

The need to build a new junction off the coast-bound side of the motorway meant the estimated costs could have been as high as £50m.

Now KCC says it is considering alternatives that would cost no more than £25m.

It is thought that among the options could be a lorry park that would be accessed through existing roads - an idea likely to trigger alarm among residents.

KCC leader Paul Carter said the site at Aldington remained the best option available to deal with the disruption caused by Operation Stack, which sees stretches of the M20 used to park HGVs when there are port closures.

He insisted the park, capable of holding as many as 3,000 lorries, would not be a massive imposition on local people.

"There may be other proposals that people want us to look at and I’m keeping an open mind but I have yet to hear of one. [The site] is scrubland of no great importance and most people would not be able to see it.

"It would not be a massive imposition on local communities in the area."

He said the costs would be justified taking into account the money spent by Kent Police and the Highways Agency on managing Operation Stack.

Campaigners opposed to the lorry park said they would have serious concerns about any scheme involving lorries using local roads.

Matt Baldwin of the camapign group Lorry Park Alliance said: "This smacks of desperation rather than looking at a credible alternative. There must be better ways of spending £25m.

"If KCC believes that the park could be accessed through Station Road, a lot of people will be very unhappy."

KCC should examine the idea of a series of smaller lorry parks or consider other locations, he added.

While plans for a park remain one of KCC’s key transport policies, the scheme has suffered a series of setbacks.

In January, the government said that while it did not object, it had no money to support the project.