J11 M20 Questions and No Answers

” Will you ask for the full minutes and agenda of the meeting held between all 12 Kent MP’s and the Chancellor on the 4/11/15 to be released to the people of Kent/Shepway for the sake of Transparency and Accountability?”

This was a questioned posed to Damian Collins MP for Folkestone and Hythe by our representative at the Q & A session – regarding the Lorry Park siting –  held at Westenhanger Castle on Friday 22nd Jan 2015,  arranged and chaired so superbly by the SOS Kent Team.

Unfortunately it was a question which went unanswered. It appears Mr Collins MP does not want you to know what he said in the meeting on the 4/11/15.

The SOS Kent Team – who can be found on Facebook – are raising the issue that other alternatives are still possible. In Fact the Parish Council of Stanford have put forward an alternative and it has been promised by Mr Collins that this alternative will be considered by Highways England.

As we have said in an earlier Post, site 1 or 2 are Not a Done Deal

We must also remember this is not the formal consultation stage. It is the stage whereby you the residents can say which site you prefer. It does not have to be 1 or 2.

What seems strange to us at Shepwayvox is that on the 4/11/15 Mr Collins MP meets the Chancellor then on the On 5th November 2014 Shepway District Council’s Cabinet resolved to make a budget available, “to fund an economic development study in the vicinity of Junction 11 of the M20.” for  “development opportunities” presenting themselves in and around Junction 11 of the M20.

Junction 11 M20 Doc

In less than 24 hours SDC make money available. Was there any communication between Mr Collins MP and SDC? For the sake of Transparency and Accountability to their constituents,  will they release any minutes/conversations they had between the 4th Nov and the 5th Nov 2015?

Highways England [HE] had not even released the Information regarding Sites 1 or 2 at J11 M20 yet both Mr Collins and SDC knew the area where the Lorry Park might go. This would imply HE had a good idea of where the site/s would be located in early Nov 2015 and may have shared this information with either party or at least the Dept of Transport.

It’s clear to us that HE must have shared the site info with the Dept of Transport as they had been whittling down the possible sites. Who then in the Dept of Transport released this Info to Mr Collins?

Transparency is the foundation of accountability and the key that gives people the tools and information they need to enable them to play a bigger role in society. So far all the information provided by HE, SDC and Mr Collins has been as opaque as Obsidian and prevented us all from knowing what went on behind closed doors on the 4th Nov 2015 between Mr Collins and the Chancellor.

We ask Mr Collins once again, as did our Representative at the meeting

” Will you ask for the full minutes and agenda of the meeting held between all 12 Kent MP’s and the Chancellor on the 4/11/15 to be released to the people of Kent/Shepway for the sake of Transparency and Accountability?”

Shepwayvox