1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202 
...as council reviews Kent's truck parks
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
TRANSPORT CONSULTANTS are to examine ways of dealing with illegal truck parking in Kent which is said to cause huge problems for businesses and residents.
Kent County Council commissioned consultant Faber Maunsell to complete the study by June,saying foreign truckers appear to be the main culprits.
Mick Sutch, Kent's head of planning and transport strategy, says the county faces a unique problem because of the huge volumes of trucks travelling to and from the ChannelTunnel and Dover.
"Overnight lorry parking is a huge issue in Kent now because of its location in relation to the rest of the UK and Europe," he adds."What we are looking for is a tooLkit of short, medium and long-term solutions."
He adds that the main black spots are Whitfield Business Park in Dover and Ashford Business Park near M20310: "You can get 40 lorries parking in a business park close to housing estate with all the associated problems of no toilet facilities and prostitution."
The £25,000 study, which is part funded by the DfT, will also examine who is responsible for dealing with the problem.
In January, GSE Group. the new owners of the 300-space Ashford Truckstop, raised its standard prices from £8 to £12.50 a night, which includes a meal voucher (CM10 February).
But Howard Charlton, GSE consultant project manager, says there is far less illegal parking by foreign truckers in the area following the price increase: "Before, when they could not get in because it was full, they would park in local housing estates."
GSE plans to redevelop the site but Charlton says closure would have little effect on the problem: "It's a national problem — there isn't a proper service for these guys."
The county council says the only other recognised truck parking in Kent are at Medway services on the M2, with space for 100 trucks, and Maidstone services on the M20, which has fewer than 20 spaces.