Dartford and Gravesham

The Dartford and Gravesham (D&G) districts sit astride the A2 and high-speed Channel Tunnel Rail Link, and are home to Bluewater shopping centre and Ebbsfleet International Station. The area to the north of the A2 forms part of the Thames Gateway, incorporating over 10 miles of Thames waterfront. This is primarily built up, but is interspersed by rural areas such as Shorne and Highham. The land to the south of the A2 is primarily rural, with the majority of a high agricultural, landscape and/or conservation value and home to the many individual villages that have retained their character against all the odds. No less than 78% of Gravesham sits within the Metropolitan Green Belt, and 24% forms part of the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Thames Gateway
Approximately 25,000 new homes (15,700 and 9,300 for Dartford and Gravesham respectively) are planned for the districts to 2026 as part of the Thames Gateway project. There is significant brownfield capacity in both districts, and it is vital that new building does not spill off onto greenfield land.
 
There has been a notable increase in D&G planning applications on the back of the ‘Thames Gateway’ publicity. Residents, developers and landowners are becoming aware of the potential for building next to or behind their existing properties within village boundaries, and are submitting multiple applications for such development. Applications are being approved, where it can be justified the development is in keeping with existing properties.

For more information, see our Thames Gateway page.

Local Development Framework (LDF) – March 2008 update
CPRE Kent's detailed comments on Dartford’s Core Strategy Preferred Options can be downloaded in full below.

Lower Thames Crossing
One of the options for this project – which has the wholehearted support of Kent and Essex county councils – is a bridge from East Tilbury, on the north side of the Thames, to Higham. This would almost certainly destroy a large quantity of Green Belt countryside and have a severe effect on quality of life generally. A new crossing would bring little to the people of north Kent bar noise and air pollution from the thousands of vehicles passing through 24 hours a day, as well as housing and commercial development which tends to follow the construction of new roads. CPRE D&G will campaign strongly against a new Lower Thames Crossing in the districts.

On 31 January 2008 Kent County Council, frustrated by a lack of central government progress on the issue, announced that it was going to conduct a feasibility study into a new crossing in partnership with Essex County Council. Comments at the time from KCC leader Paul Carter left no doubt about his enthusiasm for the crossing. See our news article for more detail.

The Dartford Crossing
Frequent and severe congestion at the Dartford Crossing is the strongest driver for the construction of a new Lower Thames Crossing. The current crossing is unquestionably operating at or beyond its capacity, but as a 2007 CPRE Kent report pointed out, there are less damaging solutions to the crossing’s problems than building a new bridge or tunnel.

The report – Removing Delays at the Dartford Crossing, by our transport committee chairman Phil Sulley – argues that by taking away the crossing’s barriers, traffic flows could be increased to an extent which would remove the need for a new crossing. Furthermore, it would be possible to continue charging for the crossing by installing a number-plate recognition system similar to that used for the London congestion charge.

The report, published in January 2007, can be downloaded below.

Attachments:

District Issues

• Lower Thames Crossing
• Thames Gateway
• Tomorrow's Kent