Post-brexit lorry park proposals labelled ‘devastating’

A post-brexit “lorry park” in Kent would be “devastating” for the environment and could affect access to a major hospital, opponents have said.

The Department for Transport is understood to be in the process of buying a 27-acre site near Ashford as it gears up to leave the EU at the end of the year.

But there are concerns the site could be used as a giant car park for thousands of lorries waiting to travel to the continent.

The Government has been criticised for a lack of communication with residents, which the local MP said was due to it “scrabblingaround”tofindsomewhere for lorry overflow.

Damian Green MP said there were two separate proposals for the land an “outbound temporary lorry park if the motorway gets completely clogged” and as a location for border-related checks.

He said: “There has been no communication about this with local people until the last few days.” Mr Green said he opposed plans to use the site - which he understands the Government does not yet own - as a lorry park because of how close it would be to new housing developments and possible affects on access to Ashford’s William Harvey Hospital. But he said he would not be against using some of the site for borderrelated checks.

“I accept they need to be done somewhere that is near to the motorway,” he added. “That won’t affect local traffic, local air pollution and I think that’s a more acceptable proposal.”