It is now clear that when Keir Starmer in opposition said “we choose the builders, not the blockers” he was talking only about house-building. Major shovel-ready infrastructure projects ready to boost the economy are either being scrapped or kept in the starting gates.
Starmer’s Labour Party was voted into power on 4th July this year and before the end of the month the £2.5bn A303 Stonehenge tunnel and the £350 A27 Arundel bypass had been scrapped.
Now we have confirmation that the government is wobbly on the biggest road building project in the programme, the £9bn Lower Thames Crossing scheme.
The decision on the application by National Highways under the Planning Act 2008 for the A122 Lower Thames Crossing development consent order was due on Friday 4th October. On Monday 7th October transport secretary Louise Haigh confirmed press reports that she was not yet ready to make a call on the controversial project.
She has extended her deadline for making a decision to 23rd May 2025.
The previous government had already extended the deadline for a decision by three months once, to push it back to after the general election.
Now Haigh says she is parking it until next May because she wants more time to decide.
In a written statement, Haigh said: “Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, a decision on an application must be made within 3 months of receipt of the examining authority’s report, unless the power, under section 107(3), is exercised to extend the deadline, and a written ministerial statement is made to Parliament announcing the new deadline.
“The examining authority’s report on the Lower Thames Crossing development consent order was received on 20th March 2024. The current deadline for a decision is 4th October 2024, having been extended from 20th June 2024 by way of a written ministerial statement, dated 24th May 2024.
“The deadline for the decision is to be further extended to 23rd May 2025 in order to allow more time for the application to be considered further, including any decisions made as part of the spending review.
“The decision to set a new deadline is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant the application development consent.”
The Lower Thames Crossing has been in the works for 35 years, since Margaret Thatcher's transport secretary Paul Channon’s Roads for Prosperity white paper in 1989.
The project as currently planned involves the construction of a twin bored tunnel under the River Thames to the east of Tilbury and Gravesend, plus 14.3 miles of new roads to link it to the M25 and A13 (to the north of the river) and the M2/A2 (to the south). At a length of 4.3km it would be the longest UK road tunnel and with a diameter of more than 16 metres, the widest tunnel in Europe.
Logistics UK chief executive David Wells said: “The postponement of the decision on the Lower Thames Crossing’s development consent order is deeply concerning and runs counter to what the new government has said about getting Britain building again.
“Industry is united in its opinion that the Lower Thames Crossing needs to be built so the decision to delay the DCO will be met with bitter disappointment and frustration by businesses up and down the country. The new crossing can pay for itself many times over, driving growth by generating billions for the UK economy and creating thousands of high-quality jobs, and should not be delayed further.
“While geographically in Kent and Essex, the proposed crossing is nationally significant and is vital for improving connections between the north, the midlands and the Channel ports, where the Short Straits crossings between England and France handle over half of all goods traded between Great Britain and mainland Europe.
“The scheme has already been stuck in the planning stages for over a decade and this further delay will see businesses and consumers continuing to shoulder the financial burden that congestion at the Dartford Crossing costs the UK economy every year in lost productivity.
“The Dartford Crossing is currently the only Thames crossing east of London and delaying the decision will prolong the daily congestion which makes it one of the most unreliable routes in the UK. Two thirds of journeys travelling north at the Dartford Crossing take twice as long as they should, and the delays cost the UK economy more than £200m every year in lost productivity.
“40% of journeys across the Dartford Crossing are freight vehicles carrying vital goods throughout the country and the government needs to grant the DCO as soon as possible to unlock UK logistics, drive growth and help keep supply chains moving across the whole country.”
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