HGV concern after closure of popular truck stop
Temporary parking provided, but long-term fears abound
TEMPORARY parking for HGVs is being provided in Holyhead to ensure the port town is not swamped by lorries after the closure of a popular truck stop.
HGV access to the RoadKing site came to an end on Wednesday after the land was bought by the UK Government to build an HMRC “Internal Border Facility”.
It has left truck drivers wondering where they can park up in the town in the future – and where they can stop for a shower and something to eat.
Several took to Facebook to voice their concerns, predicting Holyhead will soon be “overrun with trucks again very quickly”.
Their fears were echoed by Ynys Mon MS Rhun ap Iorwerth, who said the lack of any long-term parking alternative was “unacceptable”.
With Cllr Trefor Lloyd Hughes, who represents Holyhead’s Ynys Cybi ward, he fears a return to the “parking problems of the past”.
On Thursday afternoon the Welsh Government confirmed a temporary HGV parking site will be provided at Parc Cybi.
The exact location hasn’t been disclosed, but a few hundred metres south of RoadKing lies a site where a “Border Control Post” facility is planned.
This will be run by the Welsh Government for imported checks on goods such as animals, plants and products of animal origin.
A spokesperson said: “Following the sale of the Roadking site on Anglesey,
HGV parking will no longer be available at this location.
“We are working with Anglesey County Council and HMRC to provide a longer-term solution for HGV drivers and to minimise any local disruption.
“In the meantime we have ensured that shortterm HGV parking and sanitation facilities are available at Parc Cybi.”
Not all HGV drivers are convinced, believing the loss of quality parking and facilities will encourage hauliers to switch to other ports, damaging Holyhead’s economy.
There is also concern more drivers will shun the temporary site and park up in local laybys, as happened before RoadKing was built in 2015.
Cllr Lloyd Hughes said the interests of Holyhead
itself had been “forgotten” in the Brexit confusion, while Mr ap Iorwerth has described the situation as “chaotic”.
The Plaid Cymru MS said: “To strip this facility away now, without a replacement being secured is unacceptable.
“The people of Holyhead were fed up with a lack of parking spaces, and now they could bear the brunt of this chaos.
“It’s further sign of how badly UK Government prepared for leaving the EU.”
RoadKing staff have now been made redundant twice in the past 12 months. Last year our sister paper, the Daily Post revealed their jobs were going, only for the HMRC deal to fall through.
When HMRC struggled to find an alternative site for a 200-jobs customs facility, it returned with a new offer which Roadking was unable to resist following a post-Brexit slump in port trade.
Site clearance will now take place, with HMRC staff moving to an interim facility from late August, ready to start checking imports in January.
At that point wider construction will begin, with full operating capability expected by autumn next year.
Some of Roadking’s 24 staff have already secured jobs at the HMRC site but Mr ap Iorwerth said the future of many others were still up in the air.
“They are being told they are allowed to apply for new HMRC jobs,” he said. “Given that the new border post won’t be fully operational until late 2022, what are the workers expected to do in the meantime?”
Lobbying hard for the new HMRC facility in Holyhead was Ynys Môn MP Virginia Crosbie, who has said it will provide more than 200 “high-quality” jobs.
She said: “Jobs and investment are vital for Ynys Môn if we are to stop young people from leaving for work elsewhere.”