A permanent lorry parking area with space for 3,600 lorries in Kent has been given the green light as a long term solution to the problems caused by Operation Stack.

The government said that the Stanford West site attracted twice as many supporters than those who thought it should be based at a location north of junction 11 on the M20.

The lorry parking area should deliver better journeys for drivers and keep the roads flowing when Operation Stack is invoked.

It will cost £250m to build and will be the size of Disneyland. It is hoped that at least some of the site will be open for use from next summer.

However, a decision on whether to use the land as a secure, overnight truck stop as well has not yet been made.

Jim O’Sullivan, Highways England chief executive said: “The secretary of state has asked us to progress a lorry area between Sellindge and Stanford. Direct access from the M20 means less lorries using local roads.

“We will work closely with residents and local stakeholders to ensure the design of the new lorry area minimises its social and environmental impact, while meeting the wider need to address this issue for Kent and the UK.”

The FTA’s head of policy for the South East, Natalie Chapman, welcomed the decision, but said the timescale for construction was “extremely short”.

She hoped the site would eventually be used as a regular lorry park: “Kent has a big shortage of overnight lorry parking places. That puts considerable pressure on local communities and it’s not good for drivers as well. It will be fantastic if that site can add that at the same time, but with one caveat: do one thing really well, rather than two things not so well.”

Chapman added that the root causes of Operation Stack still needed addressing.

The Transport Committee recently criticised the government’s “rushed” decision to build a parking area in light of the chaos caused last year on the roads, when Operation Stack was invoked on a record 32 days.

Committee chairman Louise Ellman said more work was needed to persuade MPS of the business case for the level of investment involved.

Image: Press Association

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