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Lower Thames Crossing Background In January 2009, the Department for Transport proposed 3 major options to increase capacity east of London over the Thames to be built downstream of the existing Dartford Crossing.  On 21 May 2013, the Secretary of State announced a consultation document inviting views on the relative merits of the 3 options for locating a new road based river crossing in the Lower Thames area and a variant of one of these 3 options. The original 3 options were: Option A: at the site of the existing A282 Dartford-Thurrock river crossing; Option B: connecting the A2 at Swanscombe with the A1089 at Thurrock; Option C: connecting the M2 with the A13 and the M25 between junctions 29 and 30; *There was also a variant for option C, which would additionally widen the A229 between the M2 and M20. As part of the 2013 consultation, Kent County Council (KCC) supported Option C variant, connecting the M2 with the A13 and the M25 between junctions 29 and 30, and additionally widening the A229 between the M2 and the M20.  KCC’s support for Option C variant was on the condition that the connection to the M2 was moved westwards, thus connecting into the A2. This western alignment would connect in to the A2 between the East of Gravesend and Cobham junctions.  KCC acknowledged that there will be some impact for local access options where insufficient merge/weave lengths on the A2 may require the closure of the Shorne/Cobham slip road. A total of 5,776 responses were received to the consultation.  Of these, 3,224 or 59% either did not enter an explicit response or expressed a preference for a new crossing at a location other than those consulted on.  Of those who expressed a preference for one of the options consulted on, … Read more

A public meeting, attended by around 140 residents, was held at Shorne Village Hall on Thursday 11th May. Bob Lane gave a presentation about the flawed nature of the consultation process, which included directly conflicting information from Highways England and the Transport Ministers, and which discounted the responses from 13,240 people opposed to Option C.  The presentation can be viewed here: [su_button url=”http://www.shornepc.kentparishes.gov.uk/presentation-1-from-11th-may-2016/” style=”flat” background=”#787f6e” color=”#ffffff” size=”5″ center=”yes”]PRESENTATION No.1[/su_button]   Susan Lindley gave a presentation which described the Western Southern Link in detail, the impact this would have on traffic in the area, and the measures we shall be seeking to mitigate the adverse impacts of the crossing.  This presentation can be viewed here: [su_button url=”http://www.shornepc.kentparishes.gov.uk/presentation-no-2-from-11th-may-2017/” style=”flat” background=”#787f6e” color=”#ffffff” size=”5″ center=”yes”]PRESENTATION No.2[/su_button]   Questions were taken from a number of residents who live close to the chosen route.  Speakers from the audience included Kent County Councillor Bryan Sweetland, and Reverend Nigel Bourne, Vicar of Chalk.

On 12th April 2017, the Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling MP announced the Government’s decision to locate the Lower Thames Crossing east of Gravesend. The Parish Council is very disappointed, although not entirely surprised by this decision, since variations of Option C were the only choices option offered during the consultation.  Perhaps the only surprise is Highways England’s change in recommendation from the Eastern Southern Link (ESL) to the Western Southern Link (WSL), which has been accepted by the Government. Highways England say that they have listened to concerns raised about impacts on communities and protected environmental areas, and have conducted further assessment of both routes south of the river.  Their assessment showed there is very limited opportunity to reduce the community and environmental impacts of the eastern link, particularly on the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and ancient woodlands. Additional assessment was also conducted for the junction between the western link and the A2 to understand the extent to which the traffic performance could be improved. Their assessment identified that by re-working the design for the junction, it could offer a 70mph route without significantly increasing environmental or community impacts. As a result of their further assessments, they amended their recommendation to the Western Southern Link, connecting to the A2 between Thong Lane and Marling Cross. Whilst this may come as some relief to parishioners who would have been severely and directly impacted by the eastern link, it is no comfort to our parishioners in Thong and Shorne West.  It also makes little difference to our neighbours in Chalk. No-one should underestimate the potential impact on traffic through all parts of the parish, especially if the proposed junction with the A226 Gravesend Road goes ahead.  This would entail the re-routing … Read more

Another great job by Shorne’s Litter Patrol Volunteers! 33 volunteers took part in our litter patrol on Saturday 4th March 2017, collecting approximately 90 sacks of discarded cans, bottles, and sundry litter, plus a huge amount of fly tipped rubbish! Pictured below are just some of the local volunteers who took part, together with photos of just some of the rubbish collected. What a great effort – thank you to everyone who took part. If you would like to join us on one of our 6-monthly litter patrols, please contact shorne.volunteers@gmx.co.uk, or give Bob a call on 01474 822680.