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Kent's lorry parks stacking up to stop truckers' nuisance

Cllr Keith Ferrin
Cllr Keith Ferrin

Three new lorry park sites could be built around the county's motorways in a bid to stop the nuisance caused by truckers using laybys as unofficial overnight stopping places.

Plans were announced earlier this month for a £40million truck stop to be built between Aldington and Sellindge to cope with the chaos caused by Operation Stack on the M20.

Kent County Council has since revealed that two further sites are also being considered to help alleviate general disruption caused by the volume of everyday freight traffic passing through the county.

KCC transport spokesman Keith Ferrin said: "We only need one Operation Stack site, but we do need a number of overnight lorry parks too.

"We've already identified a site on the M2/A2 corridor and we'll be looking for a site on the M25."

~ Alliance formed to fight Stack lorry park >>>

The exact location of the proposed sites has not been formally announced and it is not known whether or not they are greenfield or brownfield.

However, two councillors in the Faversham area have discussed the possibility of a lorry park near Brenley Corner, close to the M2/Thanet Way junction.

This follows complaints from families in the area about the problems caused by lorries parking near their homes overnight.

The current lorry park provision in Kent is stretched to capacity, with the main site near Folkestone full five nights a week.

Truckers unable to use these designated facilities are often forced to park up overnight on the county's B roads, or are stacked along closed sections of the M20 in the event of crossing problems at the Port of Dover or the Channel Tunnel.

In many parts of the county complaints have been received about rubbish left behind by truckers - and about the drivers' toilet habits.

KCC has announced one potential lorry park, holding up to 3,000 lorries including 500 permanent spaces, would be based at Aldington, but a large question mark hangs over its future as the authority said the Government must pay for it or it will not come to fruition.

However, Cllr Ferrin said KCC may be prepared to foot the bill for the A2/M2 lorry park.

~ Funding blow for KCC's giant lorry park >>>

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