*Ben Clatworthy, Transport Correspondent, May 1 2023, The Times*
More than £800 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent on the Lower Thames Crossing before a spade has even hit the ground.
Ministers have admitted that the planning documents for Britain’s biggest road-building project now run to 63,000 pages.
In March Mark Harper, the transport secretary, said the project would be delayed by two years in a bid to rein in rising costs caused by soaring inflation in the construction sector.
The project involves creating a 14.3-mile motorway east of the Dartford Crossing to relieve congestion on the M25 and improve journeys to and from the main ports in the southeast. The motorway will run between the A2/M2 in Kent and the A13 in Essex, with vehicles going through Britain’s longest road tunnel beneath the Thames.
The government also confirmed that the total cost of the project had leapt to £9 billion. It was initially forecast to cost £5.3 billion although this figure was revised to £8.2 billion after changes were made to the scheme in 2020.
Infrastructure experts questioned the merits of the delay and said that the government needed to improve the planning process for major projects.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Excessive bureaucracy and constant delays have become depressingly familiar features of public sector infrastructure projects.
“As well as costing taxpayers a fortune, they are a major drag on productivity and economic growth. The government must make it easier to get projects started quickly, and delivered promptly, by easing the regulations that guarantee taxpayers disastrous value for their money.”
Proposals for the new road, of which 2.6 miles will be underground, were accepted by the Planning Inspectorate in November and a government-appointed panel of experts is due to scrutinise the project. It will require final sign-off from the secretary of state.
Building work on the project, which was first discussed in the late 2000s, was due to begin in 2024, until the latest delay was announced. It had been due to be completed by 2029.
Earlier this year the built environment committee in the House of Lords said that changes should be made to the planning system to slash project times. Its report on national infrastructure policy found that it can regularly take as long to get permission to build a project as it does to complete the work.
Nick Smallwood, chief executive of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, told the committee that multiple consultation periods could be reviewed so people are not given “multiple opportunities to challenge the same thing”.
The committee, chaired by Lord Moylan, urged ministers to “consider the merits of an approach that provides all necessary planning permissions for major government infrastructure projects before construction begins”.
Delays to the building of the Lower Thames Crossing have been criticised by the British Chamber of Commerce, which said that it risked undermining confidence in major projects.
Balshen Izzet, its director of communications, said: “It is disappointing to hear that the Lower Thames Crossing has been put back two years. This project is essential to boosting the future prosperity of the regional economy and improving our national infrastructure.”
The government said that the £800 million relates to the overall spend throughout the development phase of the project. It added that it is in the process of “reforming the planning process to deliver the transport connectivity this country needs”.
It pointed to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Action Plan, which was published in February, and seeks to “speed up delivery of off-shore wind, new transport links and other major infrastructure projects”.
Tories truly are just postponing or delaying everything until after the next GE so if they lose they can’t start bleating about Labour spending.
> In March Mark Harper, the transport secretary, said the project would be delayed by two years in a bid to rein in rising costs caused by soaring inflation in the construction sector.
Says it all really. Is Mark Harper implying that we will have deflation in the construction sector within 2 years?
Even if inflation dropped to 2% (almost impossible at this point) it still costs more for each year it is delayed.
Journalists should really be calling this out and asking ministers to explain exactly how delaying saves money.
Funny how there’s no national campaign against this like there is for HS2. Car lobbying showing its power again.
So the work has started just not any work involving a shovel? The hardest part is probably the design stage which obviously costs money.
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Article contents:
*Ben Clatworthy, Transport Correspondent, May 1 2023, The Times*
More than £800 million of taxpayers’ money has been spent on the Lower Thames Crossing before a spade has even hit the ground.
Ministers have admitted that the planning documents for Britain’s biggest road-building project now run to 63,000 pages.
In March Mark Harper, the transport secretary, said the project would be delayed by two years in a bid to rein in rising costs caused by soaring inflation in the construction sector.
The project involves creating a 14.3-mile motorway east of the Dartford Crossing to relieve congestion on the M25 and improve journeys to and from the main ports in the southeast. The motorway will run between the A2/M2 in Kent and the A13 in Essex, with vehicles going through Britain’s longest road tunnel beneath the Thames.
The government also confirmed that the total cost of the project had leapt to £9 billion. It was initially forecast to cost £5.3 billion although this figure was revised to £8.2 billion after changes were made to the scheme in 2020.
Infrastructure experts questioned the merits of the delay and said that the government needed to improve the planning process for major projects.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Excessive bureaucracy and constant delays have become depressingly familiar features of public sector infrastructure projects.
“As well as costing taxpayers a fortune, they are a major drag on productivity and economic growth. The government must make it easier to get projects started quickly, and delivered promptly, by easing the regulations that guarantee taxpayers disastrous value for their money.”
Proposals for the new road, of which 2.6 miles will be underground, were accepted by the Planning Inspectorate in November and a government-appointed panel of experts is due to scrutinise the project. It will require final sign-off from the secretary of state.
Building work on the project, which was first discussed in the late 2000s, was due to begin in 2024, until the latest delay was announced. It had been due to be completed by 2029.
Earlier this year the built environment committee in the House of Lords said that changes should be made to the planning system to slash project times. Its report on national infrastructure policy found that it can regularly take as long to get permission to build a project as it does to complete the work.
Nick Smallwood, chief executive of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, told the committee that multiple consultation periods could be reviewed so people are not given “multiple opportunities to challenge the same thing”.
The committee, chaired by Lord Moylan, urged ministers to “consider the merits of an approach that provides all necessary planning permissions for major government infrastructure projects before construction begins”.
Delays to the building of the Lower Thames Crossing have been criticised by the British Chamber of Commerce, which said that it risked undermining confidence in major projects.
Balshen Izzet, its director of communications, said: “It is disappointing to hear that the Lower Thames Crossing has been put back two years. This project is essential to boosting the future prosperity of the regional economy and improving our national infrastructure.”
The government said that the £800 million relates to the overall spend throughout the development phase of the project. It added that it is in the process of “reforming the planning process to deliver the transport connectivity this country needs”.
It pointed to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects Action Plan, which was published in February, and seeks to “speed up delivery of off-shore wind, new transport links and other major infrastructure projects”.
Tories truly are just postponing or delaying everything until after the next GE so if they lose they can’t start bleating about Labour spending.
> In March Mark Harper, the transport secretary, said the project would be delayed by two years in a bid to rein in rising costs caused by soaring inflation in the construction sector.
Says it all really. Is Mark Harper implying that we will have deflation in the construction sector within 2 years?
Even if inflation dropped to 2% (almost impossible at this point) it still costs more for each year it is delayed.
Journalists should really be calling this out and asking ministers to explain exactly how delaying saves money.
Funny how there’s no national campaign against this like there is for HS2. Car lobbying showing its power again.
So the work has started just not any work involving a shovel? The hardest part is probably the design stage which obviously costs money.