Lower Thames Crossing: you can join renewed consultation on giant road scheme

Consultation on the proposed Lower Thames Crossing reopens today (Wednesday, January 29) after a series of alterations to the scheme made by Highways England.
Almost 29,000 responses during the second tranche of public consultation caused HE to announce a delay in its planning application for the £6.8 billion road scheme.
Chris Taylor, HE director of complex infrastructure, wrote at the time: “We’re now considering the consultation responses in detail as we continue to improve the design of the project.
“We’ll also be using the information gathered from our ground investigations programme to ensure that our project is delivered in a way that has the smallest possible impact on the nearby communities and environment.
“To do this effectively, we will need more time to develop our planning application (Development Consent Order application), which we now plan to submit in summer 2020.
“This, however, does not impact the target road-opening in 2027 as we’ve done more work to our schedule to speed up the construction programme.”
The eight-week consultation ends on Wednesday, March 25. If you would like to take part, visit one of 20 public or mobile information events in north Kent and south Essex to speak to members of the HE team – they are listed below.
There is also the opportunity to respond online, via Freepost, or by email.
You can read consultation documents at locations across both counties: click here for details

Key changes to the road scheme:

• The southern (Kent) entrance has been moved 350 metres (0.2 miles) to the south to reduce impact on the Thames Estuary and Marshes Ramsar site [wetland of international environmental importance]
• There will be a direct link between Gravesend and the M2/A2 eastbound
• The Gravesend East junction and link roads are being redesigned to improve journey times
• There will be a narrowed width of construction work through the Kent Downs AONB
• The plan for a service area at Tilbury has been dropped
• The proposed maintenance depot at Tilbury will be placed at an existing Highways England site
• The idea for a Tilbury junction has been dropped
• The route in Essex has been moved some 60 metres north-north-east to reduce the need for pylon realignment
• Some slip roads at the junction between the Lower Thames Crossing, A13, A1089 and A1013 are being redesigned to lessen visual impact, move roads away from properties and improve safety
• One lane southbound between the M25 and A13 junction is being cut, reducing that section to two lanes
• Structures over the Mardyke River, Golden Bridge Sewer and Orsett Fen Sewer have been altered to reduce both visual impact and the amount of flood compensation required
• The Essex route is being moved some 200 metres south-west to reduce the work required to move a gas main and limit impact on a landfill site
• The southbound link from the M25 to the Lower Thames Crossing is being changed to avoid demolishing and rebuilding the Ockendon Road bridge over the M25

Public information events

• Cascades Leisure Centre, Thong Lane, Gravesend DA12 4LG
  Thursday, February 27, 2pm-8pm
• Gravesham Civic Centre, Windmill Street, Gravesend DA12 1AU
  Saturday, March 14, midday-6pm
• Thurrock Civic Centre, Blackshots Lane, Grays RM16 2JU
  Friday, February 21, 2pm-8pm
• New Windmill Hall, St Mary’s Lane, Upminster RM14 2QH
  Saturday, February 22, midday-6pm
• East Tilbury Village Hall, Princess Margaret Road, East Tilbury, Essex RM18 8RB
  Tuesday, March 3, 2pm-8pm
• Orsett Hall Hotel, Prince Charles Avenue, Orsett RM16 3HS
  Monday, March 9, 2pm-8pm
• Linford Methodist Church, East Tilbury Road, Linford SS17 0QS
  Wednesday, March 11, 2pm-8pm
• Brandon Groves Community Club, Brandon Groves Avenue, South Ockendon RM15 6TD
  Tuesday, March 17, 2pm-8pm

Mobile information events

• Chalk Parish Hall, Pirrip Close, Gravesend DA12 2ND
  Wednesday, March 4, 10am-7pm
• Higham Library car park, 8 Forge Lane ME3 7AS
  Friday, March 6, 10am-3pm
• Higham train station car park ME3 7JQ
  Friday, March 6, 4pm-7pm
• Gravesend town centre, King Street DA12 2XX
  Saturday, March 7, 10am-5pm
• Shorne Woods Country Park, Brewers Road, Shorne, Gravesend DA12 3HX
  Sunday, March 8, 11am-4pm
• Meadow Rooms, The Street, Cobham DA12 3BZ
  Thursday, March 12, 10am-3pm
• Sole Street station car park, Cobham DA13 0XY
  Thursday, March 12, 4pm-7pm
• Shorne Village Hall car park, 16 The Street, Shorne DA12 3EA
  Wednesday, March 18, 10am-7pm
• Defoe Parade, Grays (Chadwell St Mary) RM16 4QR
  Wednesday, February 26, 10am-7pm
• Thames Chase Forest Centre, Broadfields, Pike Lane, Upminster RM14 3NS
  Friday, February 28, midday-5pm
• Upminster Library, 26 Corbets Tey Road, Upminster RM14 2BB
  Thursday, March 19, 10am-7pm
• Grays town centre, High Street RM17 6NP
  Saturday, March 21, 10am-5pm
• To learn more about the project, click here 
• To take part in the consultation, click here 

• A number of important documents have yet to emerge. For example, a rigorous transport plan and a finalised air-quality assessment. The latter is critical given that allocations at Teynham will feed extra traffic into AQMAs.
• There seems to be no coherent plan for infrastructure delivery – a key component of the plan given the allocations being proposed near the already crowded Junction 7.
• There seems to have been little or no cooperation with neighbouring boroughs or even parish councils within Swale itself.

The removal of a second consultation might have been understandable if this final version of the plan were similar to that being talked about at the beginning of the consultation process. It is, however, radically different in the following ways:

• There has been a major shift in the balance of housing allocations, away from the west of the borough over to the east, especially around the historic town of Faversham. This is a move that raises many concerns.
• A new large allocation, with accompanying A2 bypass, has appeared around Teynham and Lynsted, to which we are objecting.
• Housing allocations in the AONB around Neames Forstal that were judged “unsuitable” by the council’s own officers have now appeared as part of the housing numbers.
• Most of the housing allocations being proposed are on greenfield sites, many of them on Grade 1 agricultural land – a point to which we are strongly objecting.

Concerns about the rush to submit the plan

The haste with which the plan is being prepared is especially worrying given the concentration of housing in Faversham. If the town is to take a large amount of new housing, it is imperative that the policies concerning the area are carefully worked out to preserve, as far as possible, the unique nature of the town. The rush to submit the plan is likely to prove detrimental.

As Swale does not have a five-year land housing supply, it is open to speculative development proposals, many of which would run counter to the ideas contained in the current plan. Some are already appearing. This is a common situation, and one that, doubtless, is a reason behind Swale’s haste.

Our overriding fear, however, is that this emphasis on haste is ultimately going to prove counterproductive. This is because it is our view that the plan, in its current form, is unlikely to pass independent examination. We are urging Swale to listen to and act upon the comments being made about the plan and to return the plan to the council with appropriate modifications before submitting it to the Secretary of State.

Essentially, this means treating the current consultation not as the final one but as the ‘lost’ second consultation.

The consultation ends on Friday 30 April and we strongly urge residents to make their opinions known if they have not already done so.

Further information

• Read more on the Swale Local Plan
• Read CPRE Kent’s detailed comments on the plan
• View the council’s consultation document