Report by Vickie Cummins

Leader of the borough council, Cllr Ian Moran, has reacted quickly to new government legislation which paves the way for 'temporary' planning permission - for a period of up to five years - for new lorry parks designed to cope with extensive transport bottlenecks and delay when the UK comes to the end of its EU exit transition period on December 31st 2020.

He's told QLocal: "Some 29 council areas are listed in the new regulations, including Lancashire.

"The very real possibility of massive delays in the transport of goods across the Irish Sea after the transition period makes our borough a target for these lorry parks, particularly the M58 corridor with its direct link to the super port in Sefton.

“Residents should be assured that as a council we will vigorously oppose the imposition of lorry parks here. Kent is already being known as the 'Garage of England', instead of the 'Garden of England', given the impending transport chaos there.

"We do not want something similar to happen in our area, and we will do all we can to stop plans, should the government try to force this upon us. The better option for all is for the government to reach a deal with the EU which removes any need for massive lorry congestion, and all the environmental harm that this brings.

“When we undertook a full and democratic consultation over outline proposals for the development of some areas in the M58 corridor, it was clear that residents were opposed to it and they presented sound reasons why development should not proceed here.

"We had no problem with that, because that is how a proper planning process works. We do have a problem with central government dictating how our land is used or abused, without warning or consultation, and we will do our utmost to protect the interests of the area.

"We won’t allow our Grade 1 Agricultural Land to be concreted over so the government can place massively polluting lorry parks on it.”

*The new Statutory Instrument, The Town and Country Planning (Border Facilities and Infrastructure) (EU Exit) (England) Special Development Order 2020
laid before parliament on September 3rd and coming into force on September 24th can be found at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/928/schedule/1/made?view=plain