Stack lorry park ‘must be used for overnight stays’

Kent County Council says it will back the plan for a huge lorry park off the M20 to cope with Operation Stack – but says it must be used all year round for overnight parking.

County transport chiefs have also raised a number of concerns about access to the site and the impact on plans by Shepway council for a Garden Town at Otterpool Park.

County councillors were due to discuss KCC’s response to the Highways England proposal yesterday (Wednesday).

A report by transport chiefs says: “The lorry area must be used to help alleviate the problem of a lack of capacity for overnight lorry parking. Kent’s connectivity to continental Europe and the high volumes of freight that cross the county leads to hundreds of lorries parked inappropriately and in many cases illegally.”

The report stops short of saying how many spaces there should be. At the same time as backing the site for a relief park, KCC says existing commercial operators of lorry parks nearby “should not be disadvantaged by the addition of overnight parking spaces”.

The report also raises questions about who has the legal right to enforce hauliers to use the site, which could take up to 3,600 lorries. It says the issue “needs to be resolved urgently”.

“It would be unacceptable for lorries to still queue on the M20 when there is a lorry area due to a lack of powers and non-compliance.”

The report also flags up concerns about the suggestion by Highways England that the slip road off Junction 11 coast-bound may be closed until proper gantry signs are put up.

Cllr Matthew Balfour (Con), KCC cabinet member for highways, said that while the authority had some concerns over aspects of the project, which could cost £250m, none were “deal breakers”.

“We need the lorry holding area as soon as possible but we do not want to see it disrupt whatever housing plans Shepway has.”

On the issue of who had the legal powers to divert HGVs on to the site, he said: “The police do not have the power to direct traffic unless there is an emergency. Someone somewhere has to have the power to make sure the park has to be used.”

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Matthew Balfour, KCC cabinet member for environment and transport, said none of KCC’s objections to the lorry park were deal-breakers