THE chair of the Thames Crossing Action Group has welcomed a decision by Thurrock Council to continue to oppose the £10 billion project.

Earlier this week Thurrock Nub News reported on cuts to the funding of expert advice, but at Wednesday's full council meeting members voted to continue an official policy of opposition.

A motion put forward by the chair of the council's Lower Thames Crossing Task Force, Cllr Fraser Massey, sought to seek assurances that the Council says committed to opposing the new crossing scheme as currently presented. The outcome was unanimously approved, though a Labour amendment seeking future commitment to obtain financial support was rejected.

Government quango, the National Highways Agency, say the proposed Lower Thames Crossing is a solution to the problems suffered due to the Dartford Crossing. 

However, that claim is rejected by the scheme's opponents. The current crossing has a design capacity of 135,000 vehicles per day, but regularly sees 180,000 vehicles per day using it, meaning that a reduction of more than 25% would be needed to bring it back below capacity. 

National Highways state the proposed LTC would reduce traffic at the Dartford Crossing by around 20% in opening year (2030), dropping to around 14% by 2044.

Yet Thurrock Council's analysis of the official National Highways data shows that the proposed new crossing would take as little as 4% of traffic away in the morning peak hour, and 11% in the pm peak hour. Not enough to solve the problems at the Dartford Crossing.

The Dartford Crossing also experiences more than 3,000 incidents per year, and there are concerns that there would not be adequate connections between the two crossings for traffic to migrate, should the proposed new crossing go ahead. 

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Thurrock Council have also voiced concerns about the impact of the additional traffic the proposed LTC would bring to the existing local road network. Experts predict that there would be around a 50% increase in cross river traffic if the proposed LTC goes ahead.

The scheme would impact nearly 11% of Thurrock's Green Belt land, and in total will swallow up nearly 10% of all the land in Thurrock. And the council have concerns over the impacts to homes, businesses, communities, residents health and well-being, and environmental impacts, including the 6.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions.

Thurrock Council are not alone in their opposition, as other impacted local authorities and local MPs have also voiced opposition and serious concerns about the proposed LTC, as have the Thames Crossing Action who represent thousands of people from all over who are opposed to the proposed scheme.

On the topic of the LTC motion at Full Council, Chair of Thames Crossing Action Group, Laura Blake said: "We are of course delighted that all Thurrock Councillors remain united in their unanimous opposition to the proposed LTC. 

"We would like to thank Cllr Massey for bringing the motion to Full Council, and to each and every councillor for their vote of opposition to the proposed LTC.

"Councillors are right to acknowledge the severity of impact the proposed LTC would have on Thurrock, and indeed throughout the region both north and south of the river. This is the largest road building road project in the country. What National Highways are proposing would fail to meet the scheme objectives, and would be extremely destructive and harmful to people and the environment. 

"We will continue to voice our concerns and present the evidence that shows the proposed LTC is not fit for purpose, and would be a huge waste of £10bn of taxpayers' money."

Those wishing to participate in the LTC Development Consent Order process, including the Examination where representations will be scrutinised by the Planning Inspectorate need to register by 11.59pm on Friday 24th February 2023on the Planning Inspectorate website - https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/south-east/lower-thames-crossing/#

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