Representation by George Fereday
- Date submitted
- 10 January 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I oppose the Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) for the following reasons: • The LTC is estimated to emit more than 7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide during construction and the first 60 years of operation. This scale of carbon emission contradicts the UK Government’s legally binding commitment to achieve net zero carbon by 2050. • Highways England’s data demonstrates that the project will not solve congestion at the Dartford crossing – the reason for which the LTC scheme was proposed. The Dartford crossing will remain over capacity once the LTC is operational. The scheme is not fit for purpose and an extremely poor investment of public funds. • The LTC does not provide good value for money to the public. The national audit office projected the LTC scheme will cost £9bn, an increase of £1.9bn since March 2020 and significantly higher than the £6.4bn cost publicised during the public consultation period. This huge amount of money should be spent on green public transport infrastructure, not new polluting roads that accelerate climate change. • The project will destroy and permanently degrade multiple ancient woodlands and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) that are supposed to be legally protected habitats. This is contrary to the UK Government’s own commitments to invest in Nature Recovery signed at COP 17 this year. The LTC construction and operation will only achieve accelerated ecocide in the region. • Air pollution in proximity to the LTC is forecast to exceed World Health Organisation standards for PM2.5 emissions (fine particulate matter most associated with chronic disease and poor health outcomes). There will be long standing collateral impacts of this continuous air pollution on local public health and a hidden associated cost to the NHS and local authorities. This was not addressed fully in the public consultation. • During the consultation period Highways England made the following claim on the public consultation website for the Lower Thames Crossing: “Air quality: improved across the region.” This constituted disinformation. This and other misleading statements during the public consultation process that meant the public could not make an objective and informed decision on the air quality and other local impacts of the LTC. Air quality in Gravesend and Thurrock will not “improve” as a result of the scheme. • The LTC will have a dramatically negative impact on regional biodiversity both during construction. Vast quantities of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, PM2.5, PM 10, light and noise pollution will result from the scheme in perpetuity. • The impact of local residents’ quality of life in Gravesham and Thurrock will be very negative during the construction phase of the project and throughout operation. Periods of 24 construction, traffic congestion, noise and air pollution will make life a misery for local residents in perpetuity. • There is no acknowledgement of the loss of the many newly planted trees that will occur as a result of woodland thinning operations required to maintain newly planted woodlands. Many of the saplings will also die due to pests, diseases, lack of irrigation. This makes the LTC environmental mitigation misleading green-wash.