Representation by Richard Hawker
- Date submitted
- 25 January 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Lower Thames Crossing. Although I live a considerable distance from the proposed scheme, I am aware of its massive scale, and the disastrous effect it will have upon the area of the lower Thames, in extending the sprawl of London, which we should be trying to contain, and inevitably damaging the value of this important area for wildlife. Forty-five years ago, I regularly travelled across the Thames, before the Queen Elizabeth bridge and the M25 were built. We were all told that that massive undertaking was essential for the commerce of London, and the whole country. It was to be a final encircling of the capital. There was no talk then that a further Thames crossing would ever be proposed. The M25 was going to be the solution to London’s traffic problems, once and for all. It worked for a while, but it is clear that building roads to cure congestion is an endless task, and therefore a different policy is needed. The cost is outrageously huge, well over £1billion, when there are so many other calls on resources, such as healthcare, the war in Ukraine, keeping the cost of living at an affordable level for the poorest. No matter where one lives, one has to be very much aware of the climate crisis. The need to tackle it has been accepted by the government. Indeed, laws are in place to limit carbon emissions, and yet the government is proposing this massive scheme, which will inevitably produce huge amounts of carbon in its construction, and even more in its operation. Use of road vehicles would be bound to increase, against the recommendations of the government’s own climate change committee. Reading the information produced by the local group, it is clear that the traffic forecasst are woefully inaccurate, lacking the simplest analysis. I object to this scheme. [Redacted] 25 January 2023