Logistics UK has urged the government to carefully consider the locations of 29 temporary lorry parks it has proposed to build to ease pressure on hauliers after Brexit.
The HGV parks are intended to form an internal border, providing a base for document and vehicle checks for trucks entering and leaving the UK when the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December..
Work has reportedly started on a lorry park in Ashford, Kent with other potential sites including Liverpool, Salford, Hull, Dover and Portsmouth.
Earlier this week, Warrington Borough Council criticised government plans to build one of the parks at Appleton Thorn, close to the M56. The council’s leader, Cllr Russ Bowden, said: “This decision has been imposed on us without any consultation and follows an increasing pattern of centralised decision-making, without the opportunity for local engagement."
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Logistics UK policy manager for road infrastructure, Chris Yarsley said: "We support the development of suitable infrastructure to assist with border readiness; these sites are essential to keep disruption on the UK’s roads to a minimum post-transition period, and for keeping trade moving as smoothly as possible across borders. We have been urging the government to ensure that drivers will have access to facilities, such as toilets and showers, if they are to be held in place for some time and are therefore pleased to see that the Order includes a provision for welfare facilities.
“However, we urge the government to ensure that the sites are placed in appropriate locations - close to road networks and fully accessible for commercial vehicles. For example, they should be placed away from unsuitable roads and low bridges. And while the lorry parks are likely to be a temporary solution as new systems, processes and demands are embedded post-Brexit, it is important that the authorities remain mindful of local businesses and residents, with road disruption to be kept to a minimum.
“Logistics UK is also calling on the government to ensure that the sites are staffed with qualified officials who have the means and the authority to get a vehicle border ready if the driver does not have the full paperwork required; this will be essential to keep traffic moving as quickly as possible and protecting supply chains from further disruption.”
