Protests stack up against measure

26 January 2007
 
With adverse weather conditions bringing Operation Stack into force three times this year, Kent County Council has launched a petition to persuade the Government to implement alternative measures.
Operation Stack is activated when the port of Dover is closed, meaning lorries heading to the coast are parked on the M20, causing congestion across the county.
In the short term, Kent proposes a quick moveable barrier, which will maintain two-way flow on the northbound M20 between junctions 11 and 12, while allowing lorries to be parked on the southbound carriageway.
Although this is an expensive option, the authority believes it could be implemented quickly.
As a permanent solution, Kent believes the Government must accept responsibility to fund a lorry park for at least 2,000 vehicles – also a solution to the growing problem of illegal lorry parking in the county.
KCC cabinet member, Keith Ferrin, said: ‘Kent has borne the impact of cross-Channel freight traffic for too long, and the problem will only get worse as traffic volumes increase.
‘We are working closely with Dover and district councils in the Channel Corridor, as well as with the police and the haulage industry, to find a permanent solution. But this will take time. We hope the petition will allow the people of Kent to tell the Government that we need action and we need it now.’
And Cllr Eric Hotson, leader of Maidstone Borough Council, added: ‘It is wrong that the economy of Maidstone and Kent is paralysed several times a year by the Government's unwillingness to find a proper solution to Operation Stack.’
This is the first time the council has petitioned the Government in this way.

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