Representation by Mrs Lin Weiss
- Date submitted
- 10 January 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The Lower Thames Crossing has, to date, been through several consultations all of which have included strong opposition from local residents concerned that the crossing will divide communities and ravage the little countryside that Thurrock still retains. There is no evidence that the stated claim of ‘greenest road’ can be supported. It requires the destruction of ancient woodland. Older trees have been proven to be a good source for carbon capture. It will be many years before the new replacement trees will be capable of carrying out this function. During consultation it was clearly stated that the new route would be used for the re routing of hazardous cargo, away from the Dartford Crossing, yet it travels close to schools and communities. The recently released fly through does not accurately or clearly show the impact this will have on local communities both during construction, when, as has already been admitted during consultation, local routes will be unusable, and afterwards on completion. Our future depends on the greatest efforts to reduce traffic to protect our environment. National Highways cannot predict with any accuracy the amount of traffic this new road will carry. The stated aims aims of the three crossings at Dartford was to reduce and ease travel substantially which clearly hasn’t happened. This project has to date used vast sums of money and cannot be guaranteed to come within budget regardless of the current economic climate. There are other options, with far less impact, which should be considered.