Agenda and minutes

As both the Chair and Vice-Chair had offered their apologies and were unable to attend the meeting, it was:

Proposed by Councillor Jim Martin

Seconded by Councillor Mullard

RESOLVED:

That Councillor McConville be elected Chair for the meeting.

Members of the committee should declare any interests which fall under the following categories:

a)    disclosable pecuniary interests (DPI);

b)    other significant interests (OSI);

c)    voluntary announcements of other interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

This report presents background information to support the committee in consideration of matters raised in relation to the deployment of Operation Brock.

Cllr Peall began proceedings by explaining that he brought his question to Council following the unprecedented disruption experienced by residents in the area between 22 and 24 July 2022.   He hoped to get an understanding of what went wrong, and to see what could be done better.

Mr Green introduced the report that gave some background information and included the scoping document for the review.  There were four suggested key lines of enquiry for the Committee to consider that would form the framework of the meeting.   He also advised that the findings of the review would form part of the Council’s response to the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) for inclusion in the Operation Fennel review.

What were the issues that caused the traffic disruption throughout the deployment of Operation Brock? Were there additional issues which resulted in the severe disruption experienced between 22 and 24 July 2022?

Those present described the following factors that contributed to the disruption experienced between the 22 and 24 July 2023:

• The highest level of holiday traffic since the Covid-19 pandemic had struck.  However the subsequent two weekends had a similar amount of traffic and the area did not experience the same level of disruption.
• The Just Stop Oil protest at the Dartford Tunnel delayed people reaching the Port and Tunnel in the run up to the weekend, this led to a domino effect of delays that ran into the weekend.
• There was a major accident on the M20 that led to its closure for 4 hours.  
• The use of the A20 to divert Channel Tunnel traffic caused congestion in the surrounding area.
• Drivers instinctively tried to avoid areas of delay, this led to congestion in surrounding roads.  It was especially problematic when large vehicles found themselves on unsuitable narrow roads. 

• Following from Britain’s exit from the European Union, more stringent boarder checks were required to enter Europe from 21 July.  These checks took more time, and a full complement of French border control officers were not in position to conduct the checks until 23 July.  This led to significant delays in processing travellers through the border control areas.

Are there identifiable socio, economic, financial and environmental impacts resulting from the traffic disruption?

Those present offered the following impacts resulting from the disruption:

• There was a perception that the area became gridlocked when Operation Brock was in operation.  This perception led to a loss of business for existing companies and made new businesses hesitant to locate in the area.
• The media reported when there were delays and showed pictures of traffic jams, but did not report on how well the system worked when there were not traffic jams. This gave the impression that the area was paralysed with traffic.  Visit Kent had been working hard to try and rebuff this perception to ensure that the positive impact of accolades like the Kent Heritage Coast being recognised as the  fourth best region to visit in the World by the Lonely Planet in 2022.
• When the roads  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.