Operation Stack barrier cost £13m... but has been used just once!
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by political editor Paul
Francis
It cost nearly £13m but has been used
just once.
Now it has emerged a moveable barrier
designed to minimise delays during Operation Stack is costing the
taxpayer an additional £600,000 a year.
The Highways Agency is paying a
six-figure sum to lease the so-called Quick Moveable Barrier every
year - even though it has been used for Operation Stack just once
since 2008.
The barrier was installed four years
ago to allow a mobile contra-flow to be set up along the M20
whenever Operation Stack was implemented.
It is supposed to separate lorries
waiting to cross the Channel from London-bound traffic, easing
delays and disruption caused when the port or Chunnel is
closed.
The leasing fee is paid regardless of
whether the barrier is used. It means that over the last four
years, more than £2m has been spent on a system that has been used
just once for the purpose for which it was intended.
The Highways Agency confirmed it was
now reviewing the leasing arrangements.
The Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian
Collins said he had been unaware of the additional costs.
He said: "It seems incredibly expensive given how much was
spent building the barrier and in that respect has clearly been a
failure. If you add up all the costs, such as police officer time
and everything else, it underlines the need to find a permanent
solution to Operation Stack."
Tim Prater, the Liberal Democrat
county councillor for Folkestone West, said the figure was "jaw
dropping."
"How and why it costs that amount to
run is beyond me. Why is the Highways Agency renting it in the
first place? As far as I’m concerned, it is certainly not quick to
deploy and is not fit for purpose."
In a statement, the Highways Agency
said: "The Quickchange Moveable Barrier (QMB) was installed between
junctions 11 and 12 of the M20 in 2008 to help manage traffic
during Phase One of Kent Police’s Operation Stack on the M20. Due
to it being bespoke and specialist equipment, it is leased at a
cost of £627,849 a year. The lease expires in April 2012 and a
value for money review on its continued lease is currently taking
place."
It added: "In the meantime we continue
to work with partners in finding a longer term solution for
mitigating the effects of Operation Stack. Any solution must
provide good value for taxpayers."
SIDEBAR
The barrier was never intended as a
permanent solution to the problems caused by Operation Stack.
The disclosure that it has cost more
than £2m to lease will inevitably raise questions about whether the
money spent could have been better spent on a permanent lorry park
- a solution favoured by Kent County Council. It is exploring the
possibility of a park on a 70-acre site off the M20 at Aldington,
near Ashford.
According to an analysis by county
transport chiefs, Operation Stack has been implemented 25 times
since 2008 but the barrier has been used just once.
On 16 of those occasions, Phase Two of
Operation Stack - in which lorries are stacked up on the M20
between Ashford and Maidstone - was also implemented.
KCC has estimated that the costs to
the Highways Agency over the last five years has been at least
£6.5m.
Meanwhile, the prospect of a lorry
park that could cost £25m being built in the near future continue
to be uncertain.
Thursday, January 26 2012
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