Gary39 wrote:I got a reply from one of DDC councillors this morning.
This is the opening line:
“Dover TAP was originally designed as an emergency measure to keep the accesses and junctions in the Town Centre clear of queuing trucks but of late it has become almost a daily issue.”
As if I did not know what is designed for… and a lately a daily issue.. been going on since Apr 2015..
Why do I bother with the house on the hill..
I admire your tenacity and perseverance, Gary. It's not a situation I can really see changing though. Egress capacity out of Dover will always be limited. Even colossal investment won't change the fundamental physical nature of the port and the town.
The ferry industry and the tunnel have known this for years. Their view was the there was always going to be enough business to go round for both. That's why we have DFDS so prominent now and the new business model of Irish Ferries. Eurotunnel realised pretty much from opening that they could fill the whole thing up with freight and be more profitable as a result. Unfortunately, they had a statutory obligation to take tourist traffic and were therefore under huge political constraints.
Then came the hard Brexit with departure from the single market and customs union. However passionate one may feel on the subject, departure from the CU entails additional checks and therefore increased transaction time at the border. The problems with GVMS recently are an example of things going from bad to worse.
In short (and I apologise for rambling on), there is huge political pressure to downplay any issues arising from our exit from the CU and SM. Unless we have a change of government and a change of local representation, I fear that Aycliffe will remain nothing more than collateral damage in the cause of a wider argument.