Plans to build a new £10billion motorway and road tunnel have amounted to the longest application on record with a shocking 359,866 pages spread over 2,838 seperate documents.
Lower Thames Crossing hopes the proposed new 14.3 mile road and 2.6 mile tunnel linking Kent and Essex will tackle congestion problems at the Dartford Crossing – however, the massive application has prompted concerns about the state of the planning system.
If every document was printed, the 359,866 pages would weigh around 1,620kg. This is just a bit more than a Volkswagen Beetle, according to analysis from Britain Remade, a campaign group to promote economic growth
The group also found that it would take around 328 days to read the entire application. The project has received criticism from campaigners as National Highways has spent £267million on just the application process in what has been described as “symbolic of what is wrong with our planning system”.
The final decision on whether the project can go ahead is set to be made within the next six months, despite it being in planning stages since 2009. It won’t open until 2031 at the earliest.
Britain Remade, slammed the expensive project which has already cost £800million. A Britain Remade spokesman said: “The Lower Thames Crossing’s 359,000 page planning application is symbolic of everything wrong with our planning system: it’s far too hard to build in Britain.
“Delays and endless bureaucracy mean we can’t build the homes, transport links or clean energy projects the country needs.”
The inspectors’ examination reportedly concluded at the end of December and Transport Secretary Mark Harper will receive the recommendation by March 20 on whether or not the project may go ahead.
Founder and campaigner Sam Richards said that while the size of the application was “simply insane and totally unjustifiable by any sensible person”, he was still in favour of it.
He told the Times: “There is an unquestionable need for the Lower Thames Crossing, not only will it cut congestion at the Dartford Crossing, it will also improve air quality.
The planning documents will be mulled over as the 10 year anniversary of the Dartford Crossing toll booth demolition arrives.
Despite payments for the crossing being made online, and the need to stop and pay manually at booths being eradicated, the road is still plagued by congestion almost daily.
“With 40 percent of traffic on the Dartford Crossing freight heading to our most important ports, the lack of capacity is strangling off economic growth,” he added.
“The Lower Thames Crossing is symbolic of what is wrong with our planning system. From applications that are taller than eight double-decker buses to having to go through multiple rounds of consultation over many years, currently it’s simply far too difficult and takes far too long to get anything built in Britain.”
Express.co.uk has reached out to National Highways for comment.