Dover & Deal Liberal Democrats Campaign Against the Dover Inland Border Facility

The Dover Inland Border Facility base at the Whitcliffs Business Park, Whitfield has cost £18.3 million to build and £20 million to purchase the land!

Dover & Deal Lib Dems have campaigned hard against the siting of the Inland Border Facility at Whitcliffs Business Park, Whitfield and continue to do so.

We have issued several news releases, spoken to Meridan News, completed two HMRC Surveys and asked Lib Dem Peer Baroness Jenny Randerson, Transport Spokesperson, to ask questions regarding the facility in the House of Lords. These ranged from why no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was originally undertaken; how light pollution would be mitigated and why the usage of IBFs in Kent has been considerably less that predicted prior to the end of the Brexit Transition period. Sadly, the responses have not included any concrete information.

The facility lies empty. The jobs that were to have been created – around 200 – have not materialised and we now understand that the Dover IBF has been taken over by the Department of Transport which has refused to reveal its ongoing spending on security, meaning the bill is almost certainly higher than the figure of £18.3 million.

Indeed, the huge IBF at Sevington, Ashford, (230 acres), which is barely used, cost £154 million to build plus running costs of £89 million. Kent County Council has received an additional £9.2m revenue funds related to resource for traffic management, auxiliary operational facility support, temporary facilities, signage and winter services costs this includes c£730,000 for staff costs for their project and contract management services since July 2020!

The scale of the of the costs are mind-boggling.  Nationwide at least £466 million was spent on constructing and running the unwanted sites across England and Wales – and four of the seven sites are now closed! 

March 2023

BACKGROUND TO THE DOVER INLAND BORDER FACILITY AND OUR CAMPAIGN – November 2021

The Conservative Government had four years to prepare for Brexit and then, at the last minute, came up with a plan which, it appears, was barely researched, and ill-thought out. There was almost no consultation with the local community. Residents were contacted by letter on 31 December 2020 to be informed that a 1200 lorry park was to be built virtually in their back gardens (at Guston) with only a couple of weeks to respond. Even Dover District Councillors were only permitted (at a meeting held in secret) to see the application 24 hours before a Council meeting to approve the plans. Neither were Councillors allowed to disclose the details to others prior to that Council meeting!

Dover & Deal Lib Dems, supported by Lib Dem Peer Baroness Jenny Randerson, Transport Spokesperson in the House of Lords, have asked why no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was undertaken. In 2019 the Conservative Government introduced a law which specified that a Special Development Order (SDO) cannot be used for any development over 5 hectares without an EIA. The site at White Cliffs / Guston covers 37 hectares (91 acres).  It now appears that, under emergency Brexit legislation, ministers can grant SDOs regardless of its 2019 legislation!  (It’s a case of making up the rules as we go along.)

Baroness Randerson has brought a regret motion querying the use of the SDO and asked several written questions in the House of Lords over the past two years regarding the cancellation of meetings, the impact of light pollution and why the usage of IBFs in Kent has been considerably less that predicted prior to the end of the Transition period.  Sadly, the responses have not included any concrete information.

Concerns raised by various local parties including Dover & Deal Lib Dems have included environmental impact and traffic implications, as the A2 is a single lane road in both directions at various points from and to Dover Port, and struggles with congestion at busy times already. According to the news release, these concerns have been listened to and acted upon, but it remains to be seen.

UPDATE – July 2021

The Cabinet Office has recently undertaken a review of costs and feasibility on all the IBFs in Kent and has confirmed that it is still committed to going ahead with the site at White Cliffs / Guston.

However, the IBF will now only utilise one quarter of the site and that will be towards the western edge close to existing retail park, the new Dover Leisure Centre, Christchurch Academy, Duke of York Royal Military School and Guston & Whitfield primary schools, which is of concern. There is no information, as yet, as to what will happen with the remaining land. The site cost £8.5 million.  HMRC are to take over the site from the DfT and the proposed DEFRA checks in relation to animals will no longer take place at White Cliffs / Guston because of the site’s unsuitable geological features, substantial levels of chalk and, as the land sits on top of the aquifer, the undulating nature of the site renders it unsuitable!

This means DEFRA is currently in negotiations regarding a new site in Dover which they propose to lease for 5 years, at more cost to the taxpayer.  They have yet to reveal the location of the site.

The existing site at White Cliffs / Guston is now to become be a permanent fixture (it was originally only going to be needed for five years) but plans have still to be revealed, promised in August.  However, it is anticipated that 1,000 lorries will use the site on a daily basis, though that may tail off over a period of time.  There is no current timescale as to when development might begin but it is thought it will not commence until Summer 2022, presumably while the A2 is upgraded to a dual carriage way (tbc).

Guston Parish Council has raised the issue of lighting, which has caused such controversy at the Sevington IBF, and has been reassured that mistakes made at Sevington will not be replicated at the White Cliffs / Guston IBF.

There remains a question about the North Downs Way which incorporates the old Roman Road to Dover and how it is going to be redirected – such a shame.

The Conservative MP, KCC and DDC leaders, in their recent news release, say the new development will ensure millions of pounds of investment into the Dover area, and describe it as a “real Brexit boost”, with hundreds of jobs created by HMRC, health operations and the increase in port business. 

Residents say that benefits to local job seekers would be the same if the location of the IBF were moved to a better, safer and more appropriate site.  They estimate only a couple of hundred jobs will be created – better than nothing, but at enormous cost both financially and to the local community and environment.