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.”
