TCAG response to Essex Climate Action Commission consultation

The Essex Climate Action Commission was set up in 2020 by Essex County Council to advise on what Essex could do to tackle climate change.  There was a public consultation on the Essex Climate Action Commission’s recommendations for action on climate change for the county of Essex from 16th March to the 4th May 2021.

TCAG responded to the consultation (on the 4th May) by simply using the comment sections of the consultation, since none of the points that were being raised referenced the proposed LTC or the huge negative impact it would have to the area in regard to the climate emergency.

Here are the comments we made:

Regardless of any of the above points, or indeed any other points raised in the whole of this consultation, Essex County Council also need to be looking at the bigger picture.

We would call on Essex County Council to give serious consideration as to how you can claim you care about climate change when you are supporting the proposed Lower Thames Crossing(LTC)?

The proposed LTC would generate over 5m tonnes of carbon emissions, which can in no way be considered acceptable, and goes completely against the Government’s legal commitment to Carbon Net Zero.

Not only would it destroy homes, lives, health, communities, but also ancient woodland, greenbelt, wildlife and habitats, solar farms, agricultural land (inc grade 1 listed), the environment in general and so much more.

It wouldn’t do anything to solve the issues we all suffer with congestion and pollution, especially in relation to the current Dartford Crossing, which would remain over capacity even if the LTC goes ahead, a fact proven by Highways England’s own data/figures.

Not only that Highways England are not giving any consideration to how traffic would migrate between the two crossings (if LTC goes ahead) when there are incidents at either crossing, and there would not be adequate connections. This will result in even more congestion and pollution.

What is being proposed would create a hugely destructive toxic triangle, in areas that already suffer with illegally high levels of air pollution.

Now more than ever we need to be doing all we can to improve things, not make them worse. We call upon the Climate Change Committee to please consider the true implications of the proposed LTC in regard to climate change, and say NO to the proposed LTC

 

and

As mentioned previously, we would welcome the Commission’s inclusion of the true impacts of the proposed Lower Thames Crossing into any future discussions, plans, and recommendations, and to say NO to the proposed Lower Thames Crossing.
We would be more than happy to discuss this further, please don’t hesitate to visit our website www.tcag.info and to contact us – admin@thamescrossingactiongroup.com. Thank you

 

 

Related

Essex Climate Action Commission consultation – https://consultations.essex.gov.uk/rci/essex-climate-action-commission/

Brentwood Borough Council’s concerns over LTC – https://www.thamescrossingactiongroup.com/brentwood-borough-councils-concerns-over-ltc/

Essex County Council’s motion to support LTC – https://www.thamescrossingactiongroup.com/essex-county-council-motion-to-support-ltc/