News


Mainswork off WATER works which would have brought weeks of traffic disruption toAylesfordhave been stooddown, with no newdate set. SouthEastWaterwasdue to carry


out £30,000 of work on a 100m stretch of ForstalRoad, from August 6well into September. MatthewCooper,projectmanager


at South EastWater, said: “We took the decision to delay the project to enable further discussions to take place between Kent Highways and the local bus company. “Once complete, the newpipeline


will maintain tap water pressure to the area as SouthernWater’swaste- water plant is expanded and new developments are built.”


Walking plan A10-YEAR plan forpublic rights of way inKentwill look at the barriers that stop people choosing towalk. Kent County Council prepares a


Public Rights ofWay Improvement Plan every 10 years andwill consult on its latestdraftuntil September 12. The public can comment on how


the plan intends to address barriers such as overgrown vegetation and the biggest criticism of a lack of in- formation on signs. Visit www.kent.gov.uk/right- sofwayimprovementplan.


downsmail.co.uk


Temporary Stack plan could go on ‘for years’


A NEWreport into how Kent will cope with traffic volumes post- Brexit claims a “temporary” scheme to avoid the use of Opera- tion Stack could last for years. An impact assessment by Dover


District Council (DDC) has ex- pressed concerns on how the port and the town could cope in a radi- cally newset of circumstances. The study says a temporary con-


tra-flowsystem, called Brock, is tak- ing too long to prepare and “there does not appear to be a Plan B”. Stack (pictured) uses closed sec-


tions of theM20 in Kent where lor- ries are parked when traffic to and fromthe Continent is disrupted. TheDDCreport states: “A13-mile


stretch of the coast-bound section of the M20, between junction eight near Maidstone and junction nine near Ashford, will be earmarked to hold heavy goods vehicles, in what will effectively become a giant tem- porary lorry park for 2,000 lorries. “It is likely a permanent solution will not be in place formany years if


Homes & Gardens


enacted through current planning processes and procedures.” Last month, Highways England


told Downs Mail that two versions of Brock are under development, one involving a “pre-deployed” steel barrier which takes up to two weeks to installwhile the other uses a light-weight lane separatorwhich can be in place in hours. The report says there could be


gridlock inDover if Brexit “ends up creating regulatory and tariff barri- ers between theUK and the EU”. “Customs checks on imports from


outside the common market can take between five and 45 minutes per vehicle," it adds. “Port officials have warned that increasing the time it takes to clear customs by as


little as two minutes could lead to 17-mile traffic jams.” All MPs in the M20 corridor in-


cluding Helen Whately, Helen Grant, Tracey Crouch and TomTu- gendhat, are becoming increasingly concernedhowroadswill cope if the motorway is out of action. One option being considered by


Highways England is to use the M26, inMr Tugendhat’s Tonbridge &Malling constituency, as an over- spill area.He is opposed to the idea. Dover District Councillor Nigel


Collor, a former ferry company staffer, said: “Brock is not the ideal solution. It alldepends onwhat kind of port and customs controlswill be in place – these are the things that willmake the difference.”


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