Kent is afraid about Chunnel's effects
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KENT COUNTY Council fears that a fixed cross-Channel link could harm local employment and the environment, and wants assurances to the contrary before any scheme is started.
It said this last week when it gave evidence to a hearing of the House of Commons Transport Committee in Dover Town Hall.
The Council's considerations are heavily influenced by its concern for the environment and the possible impact on local employment. It is looking to the sponsors of any future scheme for positive guarantees which would not merely preserve existing employment but positively increase it in the area.
The construction of a fixed link, especially a 7m bore tunnel which could well be the most cost effective alternative, is clearly not to the benefit of Kent nor necessarily in its interests says the council.
It says that the net effect appears to be an increase in unemployment as a result of a drop in demand for existing cross-Channel ferries, particularly at Dover.
The Council says fixed link proposals incorporating a road link could have a very serious and adverse impact on the area. On the basis of the information available, schemes incorporating a road and rail link would have a particularly severe impact upon the existing crossChannel ports, with severe consequences for the economic base of Dover, Written evidence from the Council goes on to say that a twin-bore tunnel constructed to a standard capable of carrying lorries, and providing a crossChannel shuttle service of the kind abandoned in 1975, could have an adverse economic impact on South-east Kent in the foreseeable future.
In any event, whichever fixed link scheme is selected, the County Council expects a public participation exercise to be mounted by the promoters before any Bill is introduced into Parliament.