Thursday 18 July 2013

Stephen Metcalfe MP says “Thank You” to everyone who made submissions about the new Lower Thames Crossing


Last week Stephen Metcalfe, local MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, supported by local Ward Councillors Mike Revell and Sue Little joined a local group of resident in Orsett in a final push to encourage people to take part in the consultation regarding a new lower Thames crossing.

The whole day was a huge success with hundreds of people making submissions on the day via the online portal that had been set up. Cllr’s , residents, and the MP were on hand throughout the day to talk through the Options and to explain why they were particularly opposing Option C.

The submissions made will provide further evidence of local opposition to the Government’s proposals to locate a crossing connecting the M2 with the A13 and the M25 between junctions 29 and 30.

Stephen Metcalfe, who recently submitted his own response to the lower Thames crossing consultation, commented: “I was extremely pleased to have the opportunity to get into the community and talk to local people about their views on the lower Thames crossing consultation. It is abundantly clear that Option C is not right for the local area and I made this very clear in my submission to the Department for Transport. I would therefore like to thank everyone who took part either in organising the final push or for submitting their view to the consultation.”

Cllr Sue Little said: “I am delighted at the positive response received by local residents and would like to thank all those who participated in this campaign against option C.”

The consultation on the crossing is now closed and responses are currently being analysed. The outcome of this analysis will be available to download soon from: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/options-for-a-new-lower-thames-crossing

The local MP added: “We must now wait for the outcome of the consultation before deciding on our next course of action. Ideally, the Government will have listened and taken note of the very reasonable opposition to Option C. If this is the case, we can then move forward to looking at solutions for reducing traffic at the Dartford Crossing that do not have such a detrimental impact on the local community.”