Chunnel Fire – Lessons Must be Learned

18th September 2008

Last week’s fire in the Channel Tunnel could have been very much worse.

We owe a great debt to the Kent firefighters who – together with their French counterparts – fought so long and so hard to bring the blaze under control. There now needs to be a full and thorough investigation into exactly what went wrong. After all, it is only just over 10 years since the last major fire and there has been another, less serious, one in between.

The prospect of a major fire every 10 years is quite unacceptable and the necessary lessons really must be learned.

The fire led to yet another episode of Operation Stack, with all the disturbance and inconvenience which go with it. I, and many others, have been pressing for years for action to be taken to provide an alternative way of dealing with the problems which arise when the runnel or the ferries are out of action.

One of the difficulties is that there is no agreement on what action should be taken. The recent proposal to build a lorry park between Aldington and Sellindge led, understandably, to widespread and vociferous local opposition. People rightly wanted to know whether every alternative had been fully considered and precisely why this site was thought to be the only answer. This information has not been forthcoming and in its absence I have fully supported the objections of local residents.

Another difficulty is, predictably, the cost. This is a national problem and the cost of a solution should be met by central government. But there have been no indications that this help will be made available even if there is agreement on what the solution should be.

This is a very frustrating state of affairs. I have suffered from Operation Stack myself on many occasions. I know at first hand just how much disruption it causes. You can rest assured that I shall continue to do all I can to bring forward the day when a solution to this longstanding problem can be put in place.