THE leader of the Thurrock Labour group has expressed his disappointment at the news regarding the new Thames Crossing.
Cllr John Kent said: “Once again Highways England has sprung their Thames crossing announcement on us.
Once again Thurrock Council has put party politics aside and condemned the latest proposal.
And once again the views of local people have been trampled on and ignored by government.
A year ago Thurrock came together, both at Orsett Hall on the night the latest plans leaked, and a month later at the Tilbury Cruise Terminal when close on a thousand people crammed in to lambast Highways England for its inability to look beyond the short-term; its failure to explain the detailed reasoning behind all of its plans; and its pure unadulterated incompetence in organising and running a fair consultation.
It seems none of those lessons have been learned.
However one thing has changed. It was back in the early part of this decade that I and Thurrock Council started raising awareness of the government’s plans – we started the None of the Above campaign to get people involved.
But it wasn’t until last year when people received letters telling them their home was at risk that many realised the real dangers. They are certainly aware now.
For the past year thousands of people who are not usually politicised have been waiting with baited breath to see if this government and Highways England had listened to them.
Now is the time for Thurrock – its people, it’s businesses, and its council – to come together and fight as one.
We don’t want our green belt destroyed.
We don’t want our homes, environment and heritage destroyed.
We don’t want an ill-thought through scheme thrust upon us and the country as a whole.
And most of all, we don’t want the queues, congestion, and pollution shifted five miles downstream as a new motorway cuts our borough in half.
