Romney Marsh 'lorry park' fails to reach asking price at auction

Fears that a Kent village could become the country’s first post-Brexit lorry park after a four-acre site in Romney Marsh was put up for auction have been allayed after it failed to reach the asking price.

The four-acre former industrial estate in the middle of Newchurch, nine miles south of the M20, was marketed as a “potential Brexit lorry park/storage” on Rightmove before an auction took place on 15 September.

It said: “This strategic location which also lies to the east of the A2070 is ideally positioned to utilise the international networks available within the locality together with the port of Dover lying slightly further to the north-east.”

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The RHA had raised concerns that the land was “not in the right place” and wasn’t large enough to house enough HGVs.

The guide price was £1,750,000 but the last bid reached only £1,620,000.

Chrys Rampley, RHA infrastructure manager said: “It was only four acres, you’d be pushed to get 150-200 trucks in there. It was too far off the beaten track to be helpful.”

A spokesman for Kent County Council said it was still seeking out interested parties willing to run a series of lorry parks as part of a permanent solution to Operation Stack in the county.