An Open Letter to East Kent Residents from the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum

30 August 2024

Dear resident,

We wrote to you as the summer began to explain the potential for disruption fromcross channel traffic.

Bookings were at the highest levels they have been for a number of years, acombination of holidaymakers and people heading to the Paris Olympics via both thePort of Dover and Eurotunnel.

You can get a sense of the scale of the undertaking by all Kent and MedwayResilience Forum (KMRF) partners when you see the figures.

Nearly one million passengers came through the Port of Dover between the start ofthe summer getaway on 18 July and the opening ceremony of the Paralympics inParis on Wednesday (28 August).

In July alone, Le Shuttle carried 101,920 trucks and 258,375 passenger vehicles.

To cope with this huge number of travellers, Dover TAP and Operation Brock are thetools available to us that have helped us keep the roads moving.

Dover TAP has been activated on 22 occasions since Operation Brock was installedovernight on 10 July.

And Operation Brock has gone into the control phase, to hold and slow filter trucks tothe Port of Dover and Le Shuttle, nine times over the summer. It will be removedovernight on Sunday (1 September) into Monday, 2 September.

Despite this pressure on the ports and the road network, we have been able to keeplocal roads clear to enable communities to go about their daily business.

I would like to thank members of the KMRF (which includes emergency services,council, port and central government staff) who have worked tirelessly throughout toensure traffic has been able to get to where it needed to with minimum delay.

The trial lorry permit scheme has undoubtedly made a difference. No permit meansno entry to the Port of Dover and a lengthy and costly return to the back of the Brockqueue. Freight drivers have heeded the warnings, there has been far greatercompliance, and this has meant that the Roundhill Tunnel has been able to be keptopen and the need for traffic management at Brenley corner has been reduced.

Following a meeting with the East Cliff Residents’ Association in Dover, access willbe granted to residents when traffic management is implemented in the town toensure they can turn left at Woolcomber Street to get home, rather than having amuch longer route.

We are talking to people in our communities and want to continue to evolve the measures as far as we can, balancing keeping people safe with allowing the efficientflow of local traffic.
We want this to be a two-way process so please use the dedicated emailaddress to contact us: ees@kent.gov.uk

As you know, we will be facing greater challenges as we head into the autumn.The EU has now confirmed its Entry Exit System (also known as EES) is expected to begin on 10 November and you will start to see an awareness campaign from both the EU and central government and travel operators about the changes and what people can do themselves to prepare.

What we do know is it has the potential to cause further disruption.

We will be looking at the traffic modelling from central government when it becomes available and will then be able to make an honest assessment of what the additionalbiometric checks will mean for travellers and therefore how we seek to manage theroad network.

We continue our dialogue with central government on that. And I want to reassureyou we continue to press for more permanent solutions to managing traffic headingthrough your communities to get across the channel.

When we know more on all of the above, our priority will be to update you.

Remember, for the latest updates on any services changes and useful contactsin your community during any disruptive periods, you can find out more byvisiting the following websites:

• If you are a resident or business in the Dover District visit here
• If you are a resident or business in the Folkestone & Hythe District visit here
• For more information, or to check what is happening on the roads before you go out and about, you can visit: Check before you travel - Kent County Council

Plus, follow @KentHighways and @HighwaysSEAST on X.

We appreciate your patience, we appreciate your understanding and we will continueto offer as much help and support as we can.

Toby Howe

Tactical Lead for the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum