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I'm old enough to remember when Brexit was about cutting red tape:
The government has secretly purchased 11 hectares of land near Dover to site a new Brexit customs clearance centre for the 10k lorries that come through the Kent port from Calais every day. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/10/vast-brexit-customs-clearance-centre-to-be-built-in-kent?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet
The government has secretly purchased 11 hectares of land near Dover to site a new Brexit customs clearance centre for the 10k lorries that come through the Kent port from Calais every day. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jul/10/vast-brexit-customs-clearance-centre-to-be-built-in-kent?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet
Currently there is less than 6 months to get this site operational.
I struggle to see how, if the correct procedure are followed they will be able to do much in that time.
Planning permission will be needed for buildings on the site, new road access etc.
I struggle to see how, if the correct procedure are followed they will be able to do much in that time.
Planning permission will be needed for buildings on the site, new road access etc.
Then planning consent usually comes with conditions that need to be discharged, put in place not just by the planners, but by the Lead Local Flood authority, water board, highways department etc.
Some of these may be able to be fast tracked - but not all.
Some of these may be able to be fast tracked - but not all.
Utilities (water, electricity, telecoms, gas) all take time to give connections for new sites.
Then there is the time taken for the actual building work itself required on the site - not just buildings, but service infrastructure below ground, roads etc.
Then there is the time taken for the actual building work itself required on the site - not just buildings, but service infrastructure below ground, roads etc.
All this seems to indicate to me that it won't be remotely close to operational by 1st Jan 2021.
So we either need to get some sort of temporary suspension to avoid checks until later, or we are back to temporary sites, Manston Airfield and Operation Stack etc...
So we either need to get some sort of temporary suspension to avoid checks until later, or we are back to temporary sites, Manston Airfield and Operation Stack etc...
This is the site - other than clearing large trucks through it, I'm wondering what need there ever was for two motorway junctions so close? https://www.mojo-kent.co.uk/
So - I've looked into is a bit more.
First things first, here is where the site is. As you can see it is not that close to Dover. I'm sure nearer sites could have been found, but of course it might have then taken more effort to develop them.
First things first, here is where the site is. As you can see it is not that close to Dover. I'm sure nearer sites could have been found, but of course it might have then taken more effort to develop them.
In many ways a remote site is better for this sort of thing though - it doesn't need to be on the edge of a town - people are only coming to it and leaving it by motorway.
You also don't want it to be too far from the port to avoid vehicles making unnecessary detours to it.
You also don't want it to be too far from the port to avoid vehicles making unnecessary detours to it.
Next, this is the site itself. It benefits from a new motorway junction which I struggle to see the real purpose of so close to the other one.
Work on the new junction started in Jan 2018 and the expected cost was £104 million - so someone must have felt it would be worthwhile.
https://www.kent.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/road-projects/in-progress-road-projects/m20-junction-10a-new-junction
https://www.kent.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/road-projects/in-progress-road-projects/m20-junction-10a-new-junction
Before anyone ties it into Brexit too much though, the formal approval for the new junction was given on 22 July 2014.
https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=28391
https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=28391
There's a bit more info on the new M20 Junction 10a here and it doesn't sound like it's particularly fun to navigate, although this may have improved now. https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/tried-out-new-m20-junction-3565179
There's a bit more info on the history of it here - it's been planned for 10 years. https://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/new-motorway-junction-opens-215258/
But the fact remains that the new junction makes the site very appealing for a customs checkpoint - particularly as the road systems work in the right direction for vehicles coming from the port.
What's the site history? It got planing permission in December 2017 for "an employment led mixed use scheme"
this included these classes
B8 Storage &distribution
B1a/B1c Business
B2 General industry
A1 Shops
Sui generis to accommodate Kent Wool Growers
https://planning.ashford.gov.uk/Planning/IDOX/default.aspx?docid=1783399
this included these classes
B8 Storage &distribution
B1a/B1c Business
B2 General industry
A1 Shops
Sui generis to accommodate Kent Wool Growers
https://planning.ashford.gov.uk/Planning/IDOX/default.aspx?docid=1783399
So it covers a fair amount of uses although many of them have restrictions associated with them.
I have no idea quite what use class customs checkpoints fall into - I'd imagine Sui Generis, because they are rare enough not to need an official category.
I have no idea quite what use class customs checkpoints fall into - I'd imagine Sui Generis, because they are rare enough not to need an official category.
It was an outline application - typically this means that the planners are given an idea of the bulk / massing / layout of buildings and site roads, but not much more - think of it as an agreement to the principle of building something like that on the site.
Further details were later added to clarify aspects of the outline application, but these all only appear to relate to site roads.
https://planning.ashford.gov.uk/Planning/details.aspx?systemkey=112323&pageindex=0
https://planning.ashford.gov.uk/Planning/details.aspx?systemkey=112323&pageindex=0
UK planning permissions are valid for only 3 years, if work does not start on site. To maintain the consent, it appears that earlier this year a material commencement was made on site.
As you will see,this is a slightly ridiculous process of building a road that clearly serves no purpose other than to ensure the planing consent remains valid. It's not unusual for this to happen, although I wouldn't have expected them to make the road quite so complete looking.
A lawful development certificate was then applied for - this is essentially a response from the planners acknowledging that what was done within the law and complied with the required purpose of being a material start on site. Probably it was to make the site easier to sell.
So - that is where we are at the moment. No further applications have been submitted for the site since then, although pre-applications could have been submitted to the council (which remain private). This seems unlikely though as the council expressed surprise at the news.
Based on this, there is no way anything on the site can really be operational by 1st Jan 2020.
Which either means some sort of extension (by another name), or an alternative site being used temporarily.
Which either means some sort of extension (by another name), or an alternative site being used temporarily.
