News

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 county has a huge lorry parking problem and worsening congestion as traffic volumes continue to rise. MDS Transmodal, which has just published its Channel State of Freight Report is warning that  freight traffic on the Channel Corridor (from Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Kent via the ports of Calais, Dover, Dunkerque, Ostende and Ramsgate and the Channel Tunnel) is set to almost double from 3.8m truck movements in 2005 to 7.1m in 2030.

Last week a conference set up by Kent County Council (KCC) and the Channel Corridor Partnership discussed hot issues such as lorry parking. KCC recently announced its preferred site for a permanent lorry park - near Aldington next to the M20. The £40m, 70-acre site will have room for up to 3,000 lorries, with 500 places permanently available for lorry 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 lorry 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 efficacy 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. "We will see, but I doubt it," he said. Sutch 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 lorry parks.

Natalie Chapman, regional policy manager at the Freight Transport Association, put forward the operator's case for more lorry parking. Talking about the KCC proposals for extra spaces, she said: "We needed that yesterday, we need some more sites alongside that. We have got to find ways to make this a reality." 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, director general 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 Channel Corridor Partnership, said: "This report provides us with a unique tool for influencing the direction of future policy and investment that is needed in Kent to maximise the flow of traffic whilst minimising the impact for local residents."

Key recommendations of the Channel State of Freight Report:

• The South East region should develop a regional freight strategy, involving key public and private sector stakeholders in the region. This should consider the size, nature and location of lorry parking facilities, and how and to what extent a modal shift to other modes and areas is possible.
• A comprehensive system of distance-based road pricing for trucks should be implemented in the medium- to long-term in the UK and France to ensure road haulage is paying for the full external costs of its use of the road network. This would reduce growth rates for freight traffic on the Channel Corridor.
• There should be greater use of ICT to improve information flows between the infrastructure providers and hauliers, which could improve the efficiency of the Channel Corridor, particularly in the event of a major accident.
• There should be collaboration between the public and private sectors to finance lorry parking at an affordable rate for hauliers, which would help minimise illegal and inappropriate lorry parking in the region. Beneficiaries - such as the Port of Dover - should make a contribution relative to the benefit they receive.