Representation by Global Mutual ( Global Mutual)
- Date submitted
- 24 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
On behalf of our client, Global Mutual (c/o Lakeside Centre Limited), we write to register as an Interested Party. Global Mutual have been the asset managers of Lakeside Shopping Centre since 2020 following the administration of intu Properties plc. Lakeside Shopping Centre contains 250 shops and 40+ food and beverage outlets and leisure facilities. The Centre has an annual footfall of over 20 million customers and is a major contributor to Thurrock’s economy. Over 8,500 staff are directly employed at the Centre with a further 2,500 jobs supported indirectly within our supply chain such as delivery and maintenance; combined this generates over £450 million GVA to the local economy. Lakeside and its tenants also generated nearly £30 million in business rates receipts. Lakeside is conscious of the pressing need to alleviate congestion at the existing Dartford Crossing and its impact on the road network, local business and affected communities. We appreciate that the LTC will bring a range of strategic transport connectivity benefits to South East England, but it is important to ensure that the localised effects are properly considered. Of upmost importance to Lakeside is ensuring that the construction impacts of the LTC on existing road users are minimised. The construction impacts have the potential to affect the Centre’s operations in several ways: a) additional HGV movements exacerbate an already congested network; b) impacts on access to the Centre in terms of temporary road closures, diversions, traffic lights/lane restrictions; and c) drivers re-routing to avoid roadworks results in increased traffic on alternative routes to the Centre. Furthermore, the construction works could result in visitors establishing new shopping habits to avoid travelling through the road works. When determining construction working hours, consideration should be given to the operational hours of businesses within the vicinity of the works - Lakeside is open until 9pm Mondays-Saturdays, with later hours during the peak Christmas period. Consideration should be given to the timing of different phases on traffic management, for example, avoiding introducing major disruption to the local network during Lakeside’s peak Christmas trading period. Lakeside would be happy to participate in more detailed discussions on how the construction programme can be aligned to minimise impacts on its operations. Given that the LTC construction is expected to take several years, it is likely that it will coincide with other National Highways / local authority roadworks on the surrounding highway network. It is crucial that the various programmes are not undertaken in isolation, wherever possible roadworks should be planned to minimise the impacts on existing road users. Therefore, whilst we support the principles of the LTC at a strategic level, we continue to have concerns about the details of the scheme. We request that National Highways engage with Lakeside to review and address the issues we raise throughout the Examination