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Kent County Council wants foreign lorry tax for roads

9th December 2010
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Page 10, 9th December 2010 — Kent County Council wants foreign lorry tax for roads
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christopherwattonldrbi.co.uk LORRIES USING Kent roads could see new charges imposed on their journey after Kent County Council (KCC) unveiled plans to reduce congestion caused by road freight.

As part of a study into the county's transport infrastructure. KCC says it has been forced to look at alternative revenue streams KCC leader Paul Carter says:"New funding sources would include toll income from the Thames crossings. foreign Lorry Road User Charging, banning HGV belly 'fuel] tanks, tax increment financing for new infrastructure and port landing charges."

Carter says the funding would pay for Kent's top transport priorities, including building a third Thames crossing, encouraging port traffic from Dover to use the M2 and M20 corridors and duailing the A21. The Dartford Crossing toll is set to rise from £3.70 to £5 in April 2011 and to £6 in April 2012.

One of the central policies of KCC's transport plan, 'Growth without Gridlock', is the development of a lorry park between junctions 10 and 11 of the M20, which it says will alleviate traffic problems caused during the implementation of Operation Stack.

The overnight truck park in Aldington will hold up to 500 lorries, but when Operation Stack is in place. the overflow will be able to hold an additional 2500 lorries KCC figures show that Stack costs the haulage industry LIm a day, but the management of Stack — which involves parking channel-bound lorries on parts of the M20 — costs Kent Police and the Highways Agency f3rn a day. Natalie Chapman, head of policy, south-east England, at the Freight Transport Association, says: "We support proposals to build a third Thames crossing. Given the congestion at the Dartford crossing, this would go some way to alleviating this. Traffic volumes are going to increase as the economy recovers. So we need a network that is fit for purpose. It is important that industry does not shoulder an unfair burden on construction costs through road charging and port fees Kent should be a gateway to Europe, not a no-go zone for freight traffic."


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