Dover needs plenty of border-related facilities, the local MP said on Friday after a customs centre was scrapped to save taxpayers’ money.
Natalie Elphicke said she’s working with the government to look for other ways to use the site to help keep traffic flowing.
The comment came after the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said on Thursday that it no longer needs to open a new inland border facility (IBF) just off the A2 road in Dover to deal with post-Brexit border checks.
Construction work on the site began in April when Elphicke attended a ground-breaking ceremony.
It was hoped the new centre would see millions of pounds of investment in the area and create 400 jobs.
The HMRC said the planned £120 million new IBF site is no longer needed because a review showed existing facilities have enough capacity to deal with the flow of traffic.
Two temporary IBF in Birmingham and North Weald will also be closed ahead of schedule, HMRC said, as “the sites in Holyhead and Sevington are fully operational and coping well with demand.”
The land was purchased by the Department for Transport (DfT) to alleviate the pressure on the road network in Kent, a coastal county containing a number of ports including the port of Dover, the busiest ferry port in Europe.
DfT said it’s now “exploring alternative options” to develop the land.
In response to the announcement, Elphicke said there’s “no shortage” of facilities that will be needed in the area.
“It’s over two years since we left the E.U. and the government’s plans continue to evolve on what is needed for our borders post-Brexit over the longer term,” the MP said in a statement.
“There are no shortage of border-related facilities that are required in our area,” she said, adding that she is “working with the DfT to look at how this strategic site can best be used to support the Port of Dover and keep traffic flowing around Dover and Kent roads.”
Last month, the Conservative MP said the port town was “becoming as famous for its traffic queues as for its white cliffs.”
