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Keeping Kent moving
Page 16
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A report into freight movements in Kent warns that truck journeys there are set to double and suggests foreign trucks should be charged to travel through the county.
Words: Sally Nash
THE RECENT TRAFFIC chaos on the M20 caused by striking Sea France officers and bad weather has been a timely reminder that Kent faces a number of challenges relating to freight movement. Along with solving the problem of Operation Stack, the count} has to address a huge truck parking problem and worsening congestion as traffic volumes continue to rise.
MDS Transmodal, which has just published its Channel State of Freight Report (see panel), is warning that freight traffic on the Channel Corridor (from Nord-Pas de Calais and Kent via the ports of Calais, Dover, Dunkirk, Ostend and Ramsgate and the Channel Tunnel) is set to almost double from 3.8 million truck movements in 2005 to 7.1 million in 2030.
Last week a conference set up by Kent County Council (KCC) and the Channel Corridor Partnership (CCP) discussed hot topics such as truck parking.
KCCrec,ently announced its pre ferred site for a permanent truck park — near Aldington next to the M20 ( 'Kent seeks funding for Stack truck park'. CM 20 March). The £40m, 70-acre site will have room for up to 3,000 trucks, with 500 places permanently available for truck drivers to use.
However, at the conference Mick Sutch, head of planning and transport strategy at KCC, said there was a less than 50% chance the government would stump up the funding for truck parking in Kent.
"The jury is still out," said Sutch. "While the Department for Transport may feel there is a good case to be made, the Treasury might have other ideas."
Sutch also expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of the Quick Moveable Barrier, due to be installed this summer, at easing Operation Stack, despite the MDS report arguing that it should provide some relief from congestion.
Instead he reiterated KCC's idea for a Euro vignette or 'Brit Disc' system, suggesting foreign operators would pay a maximum charge of £7.60 a day to come into Kent. Money raised could be used to provide funds for truck parks.
Natalie Chapman, regional policy manager at the Freight Transport Association, put forward the operator's case for more truck parking. Talking about the KCC proposals for extra spaces. she said: "We needed that yesterday; we need some more sites alongside that."
The report also pointed out that there is limited capacity to develop rail freight as an alternative to road freight. However, the conference was told that Eurotunnel is cutting its prices for 2008 and Alan Bennett, directorgeneral of the Rail Freight Group. said major growth in Channel Tunnel rail freight activity was likely over the next 20 years.
Janice Wason, executive director of the CCP, said: "This report provides us with a unique tool for influencing the direction of future policy and the investment that is needed in Kent to maximise the flow of traffic while minimising the impact on local residents." •