The Panel received a presentation led by
Councillor Everitt, Leader of Council and Gavin Waite, Director of
Communities. The key points made during discussion of this issue
were as follows, that:
- There was a plan to hold up to 4,000
lorries at Manston Airport in the event of significant congestion
on the M20 at the end of the transition at 11.00pm on 31 December
2020, in the worst case scenario;
- TDC had never been in favour of this
plan to use Manston Airport, because of the potential impact on the
district;
- However it should be noted that the
plan is part of a national scheme to address traffic concerns when
the UK is out of EU;
- The Council was still trying to
understand the impact of the scheme and to mitigate any negative
impacts this may have for Thanet. This would include the council
making representations to the national authorities;
- TDC had been engaged in a number of
meetings with MPs and government ministers going back to three
years;
- The Council had not been given
detailed information required to understand fully the potential
impact on Thanet so that the council could come up with mitigatory
measures to address the impact and a plan to communicate with the
local residents
- The council had not been provided
with detailed information to enable a full comment on the traffic
flow modelling (including managing traffic flow in and out of the
airfield), environmental impact including noise vehicle emissions
and light intrusions;
- The Council had received information
on the draft Operational Management Plan (OMP) which included key
areas like on-site medical provision, driver and staff welfare,
Covid-19 outbreak plans, measures for preventing antisocial
behaviour and site security. Discussions were still ongoing
focusing on risk issues;
- The proposed plan placed a
disproportionate burden on the district in comparison to other Kent
local authorities. This could have significant long term impact on
Thanet;
- The council had not received any
information that reflected that the plan would not have detrimental
effect on public health and safety at a critical time in combating
the current public health emergency;
- The impact of local drivers being
held up in traffic for long periods of time on surrounding
services, communities and environment must be assessed and
mitigated including addressing the issue of the welfare of drivers
and staff on site;
- In the event of a Covid outbreak, a
site specific plan must be formulated and be ready for
implementation. This must include the provision of medical
facilities on site to manage positive cases and self isolation
requirements of a large cohort of drivers on site;
- The district had already seen an
increase in Covid cases (the 3rd highest in England) in recent
weeks. Any uncontrolled outbreak at Manston Airport site could have
a significant impact on already stretched local services;
- The council continued to engage with
the command and control structures and raised issues through the
Strategic Command Group (SCG) and the Tactical Command Group
(TCG);
- The council participated in all the
training exercises that included Operations Lundy and Perch;
- The council had reviewed and updated
all business continuity plans and emergency response protocols to
ensure that TDC was fully prepared for any potential disruption.
The council had also conducted community impact assessments and was
actively engaged with the Department of Transport (DfT) and their
consultants on the plans for Manston Airport site;
- A formal response had been forwarded
to the Special Development Order (SDO) consultation on the
site;
- A formal response had been forwarded
to the KRF Tactical Options for Community Impacts and KRF
Operational Fennel Plans;
- A formal response had been forwarded
to DfT and other partners regarding the Operation Management
Plan;
- The Thanet Safety Review Group
(chaired by TDC) would be reviewing and commenting on the operation
of the site to ensure safety, health and wellbeing of the site
users whilst trying to minimise the impact on local residents and
services.
The Panel made comments and asked questions as
follows:
- Were there financial implications
for TDC regarding the use of Manston Airport?
- Was Manston site ready to be used as
a lorry park?
- In event of a no deal would the
juxtaposed arrangement at the borders with France be still in
place?
- Will there be indicators in place to
inform the council if the traffic flow situation on 31 December was
moving towards the worst case scenario?
- How appropriate were the access
facilities for emergency services at Manston including parking
lanes in between vehicles?
- How appropriate where other
infrastructure set up like water supply to be used by fire services
in the event of a fire at Manston site?
Gavin Waite and Madeline Homer, CEx responded
as follows:
- The council had received government
funding. Towards the end of 2019, TDC received £500k
reimbursement related to contingency planning;
- Manston was not yet ready to be used
as a lorry park. The council would need about two weeks to work
through the issue to provide concrete information;
-
- The council would be making a
statement about the plans in due course;
- There was an expectation that
government was in negotiations at a senior level regarding the
“juxtaposed border arrangements”;
- TDC was still be provided with
traffic flow models to determine whether there were any indicators
in the models;
- The council was using the Gold
Command channel to raise concerns.
Members were advised that, in the meantime,
the Council would continue to engage the government departments and
other key stakeholders to prepare for the end of the transition and
to find best ways of mitigating any worst case scenario as a result
of the UK leaving the EU on 31 December.
Councillor Bayford proposed, Councillor
Campbell seconded and the Panel agreed the following:
- To note with concern the potential
impact regarding the EU transition period coming to an end
and;
2.
Members support the Council leadership in their effort to mitigate
the problems arising from this impact.