No port growth without truck parking, says RHA

The Road Haulage Association has called on Government to amend its National Policy Statement on Ports.

The draft statement lays insufficient emphasis on the need for the provision of adequate secure truck parking facilities, the RHA says in its response to the Department for Transport consultation.

“The NPS currently addresses the issue of Operation Stack and for obstruction to other road users when trucks have to queue outside entrances to ports. These are the issues that disrupt the travelling public,” says infrastructure manager Chrys Rampley.

“But the clear needs of the road haulage community have been entirely overlooked. We are calling for the NPS to require adequate parking in five respects:

on the port estate or close proximity
some distance from the port, to allow drivers to continue their journey for an hour or so
to take statutory rest (such as overnight parking)
toilet, shower and other basic facilities
security, for the protection of the load and the driver

“We have been discussing with the government for some time the seriously inadequate provision of lorry parking for the UK and have been encouraged by the launch of transport minister Paul Clark’s Lorry Parking Strategy and its 10-point Action Plan.  That is a positive start.

“Ministers need to go further. Increased port capacity – both Deep Sea and Ro-Ro – generates more truck traffic. Facilities for the industry and its drivers are already sub-standard and improvements must be stated in the NPS - as a pre-condition of continued UK port development,” Rampley concluded.