National Highways submitted its planning application for the £8.2bn road project on Monday 31st October, four years after the initial statutory consultation process.

This was not its first attempt.

In October 2020 National Highways lodged an S46 notice of pre-application but the Planning Inspectorate indicated that the application lacked necessary details and so it was withdrawn. It took two years of more work and more consultation to get the application into the sort of shape that the Planning Inspectorate – the government’s independent planning authority – would even consider.

The decision to accept the application means the Planning Inspectorate is now satisfied that National Highway’s consultation has finally been conducted properly and it will consider the application for development consent. The planning process is expected to take around 18 months, including six months of examination, some taking place at public hearings.

Should consent be granted, construction could start as early as 2024, National Highways says.

Matt Palmer, executive director for the Lower Thames Crossing, said: “The Planning Inspectorate has accepted that our comprehensive programme of consultation and design development has been undertaken properly, meaning our plans can now be taken forward for robust and thorough examination by independent, government-appointed experts.”

Planning permission cannot be taken for granted; there is a lot of opposition to the project. Among vocal opponents is Jackie Doyle-Price, Conservative MP for the traditionally marginal seat of Thurrock, on the north side of the proposed crossing. She believes that the tunnel will worsen congestion on Thurrock’s road network.

She has told transport secretary Mark Harper that the design for the crossing is ‘past its sell by date’ and that the minister should ‘rip it up and start again’.

She said: “What we have before us now is an M25 bypass for Dover HGV traffic.  There is no advantage for our port sector under this current design. 

“It is 15 years since the government started to consult on this route.  Much has changed in that period.  Most notably Brexit. Brexit has totally transformed the economics of port activity.  It has removed Dover’s competitive advantage over other ports.  It is why Tilbury 2 opened to take new European port traffic. When the circumstances change then decisions should be revisited.

“I fully support the need for more crossings across the Thames but I am afraid that this particular proposal has now gone past it’s sell by date.  It will no longer deliver the benefits intended.  We should, in short, rip it up and start again.”

 She added: “I can suggest a quick win  to address congestion at the Dartford crossing.  Junction 30 of the M25 remains a serious bottleneck.  Not least because the A13 has no east facing slips at the lakeside junction.  Consequently traffic has to travel west to junction 30 and 31 to go east.  East facing slips at the lakeside junction would alleviate a considerable amount of congestion and would make the road network more resilient when there are traffic incidents.”

The £8.2bn project involves the construction of a twin bored tunnel under the River Thames to the east of Tilbury and Gravesend, plus 14.3 miles of new roads to link it to the M25 and A13 (to the north of the rover) and the M2/A2 (to the south). At a length of 4.3km it will be the longest UK road tunnel and with a diameter of more than 16 metres, the widest tunnel in Europe.

Three bidders are shortlisted to build the tunnels. They are:

• BFV Joint Venture – Bam Nuttall, Ferrovial and Vinci, supported by Atkins, Tecnica y Proyectos (TYPSA) and Stantec
• Bouygues Murphy Joint Venture (BMJV), supported by Mott McDonald and Ove Arup & Partners
• Dragados-Hochtief Joint Venture (DH JV).

Four bidders are shortlisted for the road building package in Kent on the south side are:

• BFV JV
• Costain
• Kier Eiffage JV
• Skanska Construction UK

Two bidders are shortlisted for the road building package in Essex on the north side are:

• Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering
• Kier Eiffage JV.

US consulting engineer Jacobs has a £162.5m contract to oversee construction of the whole project.

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