Apologies for absence were received from Colin Black, Laura Blake, Westley Mercer, Robert Quick and Peter Ward.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Lower Thames Crossing Task Force meeting held on 12 July 2021.

The minutes from the Lower Thames Crossing Task Force meeting held on 12 July 2021 were approved as a true and correct record.

To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no interests declared.

The Highways England (HE) Head of Consents began by providing an update to the ongoing community impact consultation, and explained that following a request from the Task Force, two new consultation events were being held in Thurrock. He stated that HE had also received a request from Thurrock and 3 other local authorities (Kent CC, Gravesham BC and LB Havering) to extend the consultation for 5 key reasons, and whilst HE understood the difficulties of holding a consultation during COVID and across the summer holiday, the consultation had already been extended from 6 weeks to 8 weeks and therefore would not be extended further. He added that the minimum statutory period for consultation was 28 days and 8 weeks far exceeded this, and the consultation so far had been extensive, including both in-person events as well as webinars, a phone call back service and hard copy materials.

The HE Head of Consents then explained that HE had so far received a significant response to the consultation, with 1,900 responses being received so far, of which only 7 were paper copy responses. He stated that this was a higher figure than both previous consultations when looking at the same timeframe. He explained that responses so far included areas such as the environment, air quality, mitigation, construction, and the cost to use the route once opened. He stated that 25 written questions had been received from the Task Force and he would work through these questions in order. The Senior Consultant Stantec clarified that the answers should also be written and circulated to Members.

The HE Head of Consents began by outlining the first question: “since HE keep referring to the economic benefits of the proposed LTC, can they please provide an estimated figure on the current economic benefits of the proposed LTC?” The HE Head of Consents replied that this information would be set out in the Development Consent Order (DCOv2), but was not included in the current consultation, as it focussed mainly on the community impact. He added that details of the economic benefit of the scheme had been outlined in the 2018 statutory consultation, and this document was currently being reworked and updated. He commented that the ward summaries in this consultation outlined on a ward level new job opportunities due to shortened commute times and reduced congestion, which would provide economic benefit.

Councillor Kent questioned if these would be new jobs, or existing jobs that would now become accessible for Thurrock residents. The HE Head of Consents replied that these were existing jobs that would become accessible. He added that there would be approximately 20,000 new jobs associated with the scheme, which would be good for local people and the local economy. He stated that reduced traffic on the westbound A13, southbound M25 and at the Dartford Crossing would improve journey times and therefore improve the local economy.

Councillor Muldowney questioned how many of the 20,000 jobs related to the scheme would be based in Thurrock. The HE  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

The Chair stated that Transport Action Network would be invited to the September Task Force meeting, but was dependent on their availability as they were exceptionally busy at this time.

Councillor Kent asked for a report on the Skills and Employment Strategy. The Senior Consultant Stantec stated that he had received the updated version today, and could prepare an update report for October’s meeting.