Lower Thames Crossing planning application becomes UK’s longest ever – at more than 350,000 pages, and costing almost £300m
The planning application for a £10bn road project to relieve traffic on the M25 at Dartford has become Britain’s biggest ever, sparking concern over the state of the UK’s planning system.
Documents for the Lower Thames Crossing project amount to more than 359,000 pages and would run nearly five times as long as the road if laid out end-to-end, the Times reported. Its application contains 2,383 documents, a total which surpasses Heathrow’s terminal five, the length of which prompted calls for reforming the system in 2001.
The proposed scheme involves the construction of 23km of road in east London, alongside two 4.2km tunnels underneath the River Thames. It aims to improve journeys to Dover in the south-east and relieve congestion at the Dartford Crossing.
But the process has taken 15 years so far, after initial work scoping it out began in 2009.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper delayed the project by two years in March last year due to “inflationary pressures.”
It came alongside an announcement that the now-axed Birimingham to Crewe leg of HS2 would also be pushed back for the same period of time.
Last month, the boss of Lower Thames Crossing warned that UK megaprojects were being delayed due to difficult planning conditions.
“Back in 2008 we put in a Planning Act that ran fine until about 2016. Ever since then it’s become more and more problematic with these delays, which means that bringing projects into being in the UK is probably the most challenging at the moment as it has ever been,” executive director Matt Palmer said at a webinar.
The plans have will be given to Mark Harper before March 20, who will then have three months to decide whether to grant a Development Consent Order (DCO), the means in which nationally significant projects obtain permission to continue development.
Sam Richards, the founder of Britain Remade, a pro-growth campaign group, told the Times the issues surrounding the project were “symbolic of what is wrong with our planning system.”
“There is an unquestionable need for the crossing to cut congestion at the Dartford Crossing and improve air quality. But the size of the application is insane and totally unjustifiable by any sensible person.”
“From an application that is taller than eight double decker buses to having to go through multiple rounds of consultation over many years, currently it’s simply far too difficult and takes far too long to get anything built in Britain,” he added.
The project is being managed by National Highways, which has spent over £267m on the application. Total spend has reached some £800m of taxpayer money before building work started.
Mark Bottomley, Lower Thames Crossing Development Director, said: “We understand that for many the new road is needed urgently and the length of time which goes into the planning can be frustrating.
“However it is vital that a project of the size and complexity of the Lower Thames Crossing goes through a rigorous, democratic planning process that makes sure we take every opportunity to maximise the benefits and reduce the impact on local communities and the environment.”
He added: “The planning process and our comprehensive programme of consultation and engagement has ensured the views of local communities and stakeholders have been incorporated into our design and we’ve made improvements such as placing 80 per cent of the road below ground level, replanning our works to take thousands of lorries off the roads during construction and amending our plans to enable the Thames Freeport to be developed.”