Lack of Operation Stack solution would be major problem for UK logistics and Kent residents says FTA

Wednesday 15 November 2017

FTA has reacted with disappointment to the announcement the Government has withdrawn its planning application for the Operation Stack lorry area in Kent.

Commenting on the issue, FTA’s Head of National and Regional Policy Christopher Snelling commented “whatever the solution, everyone from the hauliers who keep Britain’s supply chain working to the residents of Kent all agree that a better solution for Operation Stack is needed. That this application has to be withdrawn is a major disappointment and means a proper management of a Stack situation may be many more years off”.
“DfT have said they will now look to implement an interim solution for use before any lorry area can be brought into existence. FTA will want to see that this delivers real benefits in terms of safely and hygienically accommodating lorries and their drivers who get caught in up in Stack, keeping the roads safe for other users, and avoiding the need to restrict or close the motorway for non-Cross Chanel traffic.”

“As always with Stack, the best solution would be not to need it. But with Brexit on the horizon and all the other issues that can occur on the Dover-Calais route, we simply won’t be able to guarantee that – if the solution doesn’t work this could be an increasing problem for Kent in the years to come.”

The Freight Transport Association is the UK’s largest and most influential membership association in the freight and logistics sector, with more than 16,000 members operating over 220,000 goods vehicles – half the UK’s fleet.  Established in 1889, FTA’s members move goods by road, rail, sea and air, consign over 90 per cent of the freight moved by rail and 70 per cent of sea and air freight.



 
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