Review of Emergency Response Provision:

Thames Gateway Cluster Risk Profile

RERP - Cluster Risk Profile

Contents Introduction ...... 4 Description of Cluster ...... 5 Cluster Demographics and Population Risk Factors...... 6 Deprivation ...... 10 Overall Cluster Risk ...... 11 Dwellings ...... 11 Special Service ...... 12 Geodemographic Segmentation ...... 13 Cluster Geodemographic Segmentation ...... 14 Building Usage as a Risk Identifier ...... 16 Other Building Risk ...... 17 Sleeping Accommodation Risk ...... 17 Hospitals ...... 18 Care Homes ...... 19 HMOs ...... 20 Hotels ...... 21 Non Sleeping Accommodation Risk ...... 22 Factories or Warehouses ...... 23 Further Education Establishments ...... 24 Licensed Premises ...... 25 Offices ...... 26 Premises Open to the Public ...... 27 Other Sleeping Accommodation ...... 28 Other Workplaces ...... 29 Public Buildings...... 30 Schools ...... 31 Shops ...... 32 Specific Risks within the Cluster ...... 33 COMAH Sites...... 35 Infrastructure Risk ...... 36 Roads ...... 37 Rail ...... 38 Aviation ...... 39 Ports ...... 40 Sites of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) ...... 41 Flooding ...... 42 Existing KFRS Arrangements ...... 43 Future Development ...... 45 Population and Housing ...... 46 2

RERP - Thames Gateway Cluster Risk Profile

Major Developments ...... 46 ...... 46 Paramount Entertainment Resort ...... 47 The ...... 48

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Introduction In order to effectively assess the fire cover provision which is required to achieve the stated aims of the Authority an assessment of the risk factors for and needs to be undertaken. This document forms part of a suite of Risk Profile documents which segment the county into 19 geographically identifiable areas thereby allowing for a simplification of the assessment of the county wide risk.

Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority (KMFRA) divides the county into 19 clusters based on internal working arrangements and the day to day work activities of its personnel. These clusters have been in use since 2011 to analyse and report incident activity, creating a wealth of information which is used to gain a deep understanding of activity within each cluster. It therefore follows that these clusters be used as a backdrop to provide risk information, as this allows for a continuity of analysis across the RERP2 project. The map below illustrates these clusters.

Information regarding risk factors has been obtained from a number of sources in order to provide a detailed level of risk for an individual cluster.

Much of the data within this document has been derived from information provided by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) a Government department charged with the collection and publication of statistics related to the economy, population and society. In March 2011 the ONS conducted the most recent census of the population. It is this information which is used extensively throughout this document as the most accurate societal data available.

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Each Local Authority within Kent and Medway has produced a Local Development Plan. These documents detail the strategic developments which are planned for their area of responsibility, and as such are referenced to give an indication of the future risk within the cluster.

KMFRA has significant experience in planning for emergencies in sites of specific risk; as such numerous sites have been identified through previous internal work. These sites have been included within this document.

This document describes the risk factors found in the Thames Gateway cluster.

Description of Cluster The Thames Gateway cluster covers a geographical area of approximately 92 square miles and has a population of 236,364 people, a figure which represents 13.68% of Kent and Medway’s population.

A map showing the cluster can be seen below.

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RERP - Thames Gateway Cluster Risk Profile

Cluster Demographics and Population Risk Factors The most current and widely available information with which to highlight the population risk factors is the 2011 census data. This data has been used to describe the community composition of each cluster.

The following charts and tables provide information regarding the population, age and gender of the community which live within the Thames Gateway cluster.

The male to female ratio is comparable to the Kent and Medway average.

The age breakdown by gender is comparable to the Kent and Medway average.

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The composite age breakdown is comparable to the Kent and Medway average.

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Household types Total %

One Family - Married or Civil Partnership Couple - Dependent Children 16,064 16.71

One Person - Other 16,043 16.69

One Person - Aged 65 and Over 11,222 11.68

One Family - Married or Civil Partnership Couple - No Children 11,109 11.56

One Family - All Aged 65 and Over 7,912 8.23

One Family - Lone Parent - Dependent Children 7,001 7.28

One Family - Married or Civil Partnership Couple - All Children Non-Dependent 6,406 6.66

One Family - Cohabiting Couple - No Children 5,035 5.24

One Family - Cohabiting Couple - Dependent Children 4,659 4.85

One Family - Lone Parent - All Children Non-Dependent 3,573 3.72

Other - Other 3,398 3.54

Other - With Dependent Children 2,813 2.93

One Family - Cohabiting Couple - All Children Non-Dependent 586 0.61

Other - All Aged 65 and Over 263 0.27

Other - All Full-Time Students 35 0.04

Total households 96,119

Notes for Household types:

 One family households are categorised by the presence of children into those with dependent children, those with non-dependent children only, and those with no children. Other households are categorised by the presence or absence of dependent children.  Married includes those in a civil partnership.  Households with dependent children include natural, adopted and step-children aged 0 to15 and those aged 16 to 18 in full-time education or training for work and living at home with parent(s) or grandparent(s) (excluding those who have a spouse, partner or child(ren) living in the household). Non-dependent children are all those living in a household with parent(s) or grandparent(s) who are not classified as dependent children.  Other households include: households of more than one family; households comprised of unrelated adults sharing; those including one family and other unrelated adults; all full-time student households; and households in which all occupants are aged 65 and over.

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In March 2011 there were 30,537 households with dependent children in the area.

This represents 31.8% of households in the area. In addition 27,265 (28.37%) of households were comprised of a single person.

These figures are comparable to the rest of Kent and Medway.

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Deprivation The indices of deprivation are used to classify households based on four selected household characteristics:

 Employment  Education  Health and disability  Housing

The map below shows the deprivation levels for the Thames Gateway cluster by output area when compared to the rest of Kent. Using the indices of deprivation as an indicator, the darker areas represent progressively more deprived localities.

There is a well-established correlation between dwelling fires and the measures of individual household characteristics detailed above.

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Overall Cluster Risk Each Fire and Rescue Service has been provided with a tool to analyse risks within their area of responsibility. This tool is called the Fire Service Emergency Cover Toolkit, commonly referred to as FSEC.

FSEC can create a number of models relating to the risk within the Kent and Medway area. The dwellings and special service models are detailed below as they provided the best representation of the work conducted by KMFRA and consist of incidents which present the highest level of risk to the community, namely Fires and Road Traffic Collisions.

Dwellings The dwellings model shown below shows the risks associated with the number of predicted fatalities within a localised area. This risk is derived from a number of factors including, but not limited to, demographic factors, historic incidents within the local area, the response provided by KMFRA into the area, and underlying risk derived from nationally recognised risk factors such as the number of pensioners or the amount of rented accommodation within the area.

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Special Service (RTC) The special service model shown below shows the RTC risks associated with the number of predicted fatalities within a localised area. This risk is derived from the amount of RTC incidents within a predefined area of the road network and other geographical features where rescues may be necessary.

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Geodemographic Segmentation Geodemographic segmentation refers to a range of methods which can be used to classify and characterise neighbourhoods or localities based on the principal that people who live near each other are likely to have a similar demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle characteristics. This information allows KFRS to understand the demographics, lifestyles, preferences and behaviours of the people in Kent and Medway and thereby specifically target those who need us most.

KFRS uses a product called Mosaic Public Sector (Mosaic) as a source of this information. Mosaic categorises each property into fifteen top level categories each of which is further subdivided into further groupings, however these groups provide a level of detail which is not required for this document.

Each top level category is named and described in the table below.

Category Description

Well-off owners in rural locations enjoying the benefits of country Country Living life

Established families in large detached homes living upmarket Prestige Positions lifestyles

High status city dwellers living in central locations and pursuing City Prosperity careers with high rewards

Thriving families who are busy bringing up children and following Domestic Success careers

Suburban Stability Mature suburban owners living settled lives in mid-range housing

Elderly people with assets who are enjoying a comfortable Senior Security retirement

Rural Reality Householders living in inexpensive homes in village communities

Younger households settling down in housing priced within their Aspiring Homemakers means

Residents of settled urban communities with a strong sense of Urban Cohesion identity

Educated young people privately renting in urban Rental Hubs neighbourhoods

Modest Traditions Mature homeowners of value homes enjoying stable lifestyles

Transient Renters Single people privately renting low cost homes for the short term

Families with limited resources who have to budget to make ends Family Basics meet

Elderly people reliant on support to meet financial or practical Vintage Value needs

Municipal Challenge Urban renters of social housing facing an array of challenges

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Cluster Geodemographic Segmentation The composition of the Thames Gateway cluster can be viewed in the chart below along with the average composition for Kent and Medway.

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Cluster Kent and Medway

The composition of the Thames Gateway cluster has more than average Aspiring Homemakers, Rental Hubs and Family Basics categories when compared to the average for the whole of Kent and Medway.

The cluster has significantly less properties which fall into the Country Living and Rural Reality categories when compared to the average for Kent and Medway.

The map below shows the most prominent category which makes up a localised area of the cluster.

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Building Usage as a Risk Identifier There is a well-established process embedded within Fire and Rescue Services nationally to recognise an identified building usage type as an indicator of the risk posed by that building. As such research has been undertaken to gain as much information on building usage within Kent and Medway, and wherever possible a quality assurance process has been undertaken to verify this data. The first stage of acquiring this data was through the use of an Ordnance Survey Product called AddressBase Premium which is provided to KFRS under a public license agreement. It provides a geographic dataset of addresses, properties and land areas where services are provided. By comparing known property types, gained through fire safety inspections and operational intelligence, with the information contained within AddressBase it has been found to be a suitable dataset to use when analysing risk data.

However, part of the established practice of using an identified building usage type as an indicator of the risk involves Fire and Rescue Services recognising that approximately 80% of the total risk from fire fatalities involves buildings where people sleep. This 80% of total risk can be attributed to specific categories of building usage:

 Hospitals  Care Homes  Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs)  Hotels  Hostels

For this reason additional research and cross-matching has been undertaken on specific building usage types to ensure a robust dataset. This research has involved building on the work undertaken in a previous Review of Emergency Response Provision Project and combining it with current information.

As an example of this work AddressBase lists 324 HMOs within Kent and Medway. Operational intelligence and fire safety records strongly indicate that that there are significantly more HMOs within Kent and Medway than are recorded within AddressBase. The reason behind this may lie in the licensing scheme for HMOs which is conducted on a purely voluntary basis. It is suspected that only the licensed HMOs are recorded within AddressBase thereby giving a false impression of the number of this type of building Kent and Medway.

Additional internal data has therefore been used to supplement the dataset for HMOs to provide a more accurate assessment of risk for Kent and Medway and the individual clusters.

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Other Building Risk It is well established that the use of a building has a large impact on the amount of risk that building poses to a community. This section details the usage of buildings other than dwellings.

Sleeping Accommodation Risk Those buildings which provide sleeping accommodation account for approximately 80% of total other building risk due to them having people sleeping in them overnight. These buildings are:

 Hostels  Care Homes  Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs)  Hotels  Hospitals

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Hospitals A hospital is defined as an institution providing medical and surgical treatment and nursing care for sick or injured people.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the hospitals category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

 Darent Valley Hospital,  Dartford Ellenor Lions Hospice, Dartford  Manor Hospital, Ellenor Lions Hospice,  Littlebrook Hospital, Dartford  Livingstone Hospital, Dartford  Stone House Hospital, Dartford  The Community Hospital, Gravesend

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Care Homes A care home is defined as a residential setting where a number of usually older people live, primarily in single rooms, and have access to on-site care services.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the care home category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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HMOs A House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) is defined as a property that is shared by three or more tenants who are not members of the same family.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the HMO category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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Hotels A Hotel is defined as an establishment providing accommodation, meals, and other services for travellers and tourists, by the night.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the hotels category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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Non Sleeping Accommodation Risk Those buildings which do not provide sleeping accommodation account for approximately 20% of total other building risk. These are:

 Factories or Warehouses  Further Education Establishments  Licensed Premises  Offices  Premises Open to the Public  Other Sleeping Accommodation  Other Workplaces  Public Buildings  Schools  Shops

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Factories or Warehouses The Thames Gateway Cluster has a significant amount of factories and warehousing with distinct pockets in the north of the cluster. Examples of this category include; factories warehouses, mills and brickworks.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the factories and warehouse category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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Further Education Establishments The further education establishments in the Thames Gateway cluster are predominantly located in or around the major urban areas. Examples of this category include; colleges, universities and other such training establishments.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the further education establishments category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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Licensed Premises The licensed premises in the Thames Gateway cluster are predominantly located in or around the major urban areas with most villages also having one premises. Examples of this category include; public houses, social clubs and bingo halls.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the licensed premises category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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Offices The offices in the Thames Gateway cluster are predominantly located in or around the major urban areas with higher concentrations in the north and west of the cluster.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the offices category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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Premises Open to the Public Premises open to the public in the Thames Gateway cluster are predominantly located in or around the major urban areas with higher concentrations in the north of the cluster. Examples of this category include; leisure centres, theatres and crematoriums.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the premises open to the public category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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RERP - Thames Gateway Cluster Risk Profile

Other Sleeping Accommodation Other types of sleeping accommodation are few and sparsely located within the Thames Gateway cluster. Examples of this category include; police, fire and ambulance stations, and prisons.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the other sleeping accommodation category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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Other Workplaces Other workplaces are spread throughout the Thames Gateway cluster with higher concentrations in the north, west and south of the cluster. Examples of this category include; vehicle repair workshops, quarries and storage depots.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the other workplaces category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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Public Buildings Public buildings in the Thames Gateway cluster are predominantly located in or around the major urban areas with higher concentrations in the north of the cluster. Examples of this category include; libraries, museums and community centres.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the public buildings category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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Schools Schools in the Thames Gateway cluster are predominantly located in or around the major urban areas with higher concentrations in the north and west of the cluster. Examples of this category include primary and secondary schools and day nurseries.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the schools category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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Shops Shops in the Thames Gateway cluster are predominantly located in or around the major urban areas. Examples of this category include; food courts, general retail and superstores.

Bluewater shopping centre is also located in the north west of the cluster near Dartford and is one of the largest shopping centres in Europe.

The map below shows the locations of buildings which fall into the shops category within the Thames Gateway cluster.

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Specific Risks within the Cluster KFRS has a process which identifies sites which pose a specific risk to the community should an incident occur at these locations. These sites are subjected to specific planning and training regimes in order to ensure KMFRA has the ability to respond correctly and effectively to the risks associated with these sites.

The Thames Gateway Cluster has 32 such sites.

Site Type Risk

Abbott Murex Manufacturing Medium

Bessborough House Dwelling Low

Bluewater Shopping Centre Shopping Centre High

Bracton Centre Secure Facility High

Brands Hatch Circuit (MSV Ltd) Event Centre Medium

Britannia Refined Metals Ltd Manufacturing Medium

Carl Eckman House Dwelling Medium

Channel Tunnel Rail Link Infrastructure Medium

Clarinda House Dwelling Low

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Cobham Hall Education Medium

Colorcon Manufacturing High

Comma Oil & Chemicals Ltd Manufacturing Medium

Darent Valley Hospital Hospital High

Dartford Crossing Infrastructure High

Ebbsfleet International Station Infrastructure Medium

Ebbsfleet United Football Club Event Centre Medium

Glow Events Venue (Bluewater) Event Centre High

Gravesham Community Hospital Hospital Medium

Gravesham Court Dwelling Medium

Homemead Dwelling Medium

Kimberley Clark (South site) Manufacturing Medium

Metropolitan Police Training Centre Education Medium

Mircon Technologies Manufacturing Medium

Phoenix Fireworks Explosives High

Princes Park Event Centre Medium

Pyro Junkies Explosives Medium

St Georges Shopping Centre Shopping Centre Medium

Thamesgate Shopping Centre Shopping Centre Medium

The Hive Dwelling Medium

Thermo Fisher Scientific Manufacturing Medium

Wallis Park Dwelling Medium

Wharf Development Dwelling Medium

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COMAH Sites The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH) and their amendments 2005, are the enforcing regulations within the which are applicable to any site which stores or handles large quantities of industrial chemicals of a hazardous nature. The regulations operate on two levels which depend on the sites status, either Top Tier or Lower Tier sites.

The Thames Gateway cluster has one Lower Tier COMAH site within its boundary the RWE npower PLC Power Station.

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Infrastructure Risk The risk posed by the clusters infrastructure can be broken down into 4 main areas:

 Roads  Rail  Aviation  Ports

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Roads The Thames Gateway cluster contains a significant amount of the County’s Major roads including the M25 and M26. The cluster also contains some major trunk roads including the A2, A20, A225, A227 and the Dartford Toll Road along the A228. Both Dartford Crossings are also located within the cluster

There are 652 miles of carriageway within the cluster. The Thames Gateway cluster has significantly more Motorway and A roads when compared to the average for the rest of Kent and Medway.

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Rail A number of rail lines pass through the Thames Gateway cluster including the line which runs the trains connecting London and South East to Continental Europe.

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Aviation There are no commercial airports within the Thames Gateway cluster; however Rochester airport provides a general aviation aerodrome in close proximity.

The greatest risk is posed by Kent and Medway’s proximity to London airports including Heathrow and Gatwick and the fact that Kent and Medway sits below the flight path for many International flights.

Kent and Medway have a long established aviation tradition and there are many small airfields for light aircraft throughout the county.

The map below shows the major airports in the South East of England namely:

 London Heathrow Airport  Gatwick Airport  London Biggin Hill Airport  London City Airport  Airport  Rochester Airport

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Ports Kent and Medway have a significant amount of coastline and as such numerous small ports and harbours. Most villages and towns along the coast contain a mooring location which coupled with the various inland marinas along the rivers of the county present a level of risk to the community.

The map below shows the major ports, harbours and docks within the Kent and Medway namely:

 Thamesport  Chatham  Ridham   Dartford  Grain LNG  The Medway Ports

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Sites of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) Sites of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) are sites which support plants, animals, protected species or natural habitats that find it difficult to survive in the wider countryside. These unique and varied habitats have developed over hundreds of years through management practices such as grazing and forestry, and require active management to maintain their conservation status.

The Thames Gateway cluster contains SSSIs as shown in the map above, primarily Woods located towards the north of the cluster, Farningham Woods located near the junction of the M25 and M20 and Lullingstone Park located in the South West of the cluster.

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Flooding In recent years the risk of flooding has greatly increased. Below is a map showing the areas of potential flooding within Kent and Medway. It shows the chance of flooding from rivers and the sea presented in categories which take into account flood defences and their current condition.

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Existing KFRS Arrangements The Thames Gateway cluster contains five fire stations, Dartford, Thames-side, , and Ash-Cum-Ridley. Each station has a set number of resources which are based at the station, these resources can be crewed through differing crewing systems and provide differing capabilities as detailed in the table below.

Station ID Station Name Crewing Appliances

1x HRP 30 Dartford W 1x RP

1x HRP 35 Thames-side W 1x RP

31 Swanley OC 1x RP

33 Swanscombe OC 1x P

34 Ash-Cum-Ridley OC 1x P

OC = On-call

This crewing model uses firefighters who are called into the station when required from a remote location. These appliances are available either during the day, during the night or both as required by the Authority.

D = Day Crewed

This crewing model uses firefighters who are available at station during the day and on call at night. N.B. this cluster does not have any Day Crewed stations

W = Whole time shift

This crewing model uses firefighters who are continuously available for deployment 24 hours a day and are based at station.

P = Pump

These appliances make up the majority of the fleet and provide the backbone of our response. They carry no specialist rescue equipment.

RP = Rescue Pump

These appliances are located at stations where it has been deemed that a requirement for specialist rescue equipment exists. They carry some specialist rescue equipment and can respond to most Road Traffic Collisions.

HRP = Heavy Rescue Pump

These appliances are located at strategic stations and carry specialist rescue equipment. They are able to provide a response to all incident types.

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The map below illustrates the area appliances can respond to from their base locations within 10 minutes. This includes the time period taken for the crews to respond into the station from another location, get ready and leave the station. This time period is known as turnout time.

The turnout time has been standardised as one minute for crews that are already on station and five minutes for crews responding from home or other locations.

Effectively, the turnout time reduces the distance an appliance can respond to within 10 minutes.

A number of specialist appliances are also based in the Thames Gateway Cluster these include:

 An All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) which allows for access across difficult ground  A Command Support Unit (CSU) which aids command and control at larger incidents. The CSU also forms part of a National Command and Control arrangement providing Enhanced Logistical Support (ELS).  A Mass Decontamination Disrobe Unit (MDD) which provides support for large numbers of people who may require decontamination.  A Fire Fogging Unit (FFU) which can be used to extinguish large grass and heathland fires.

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Future Development The Thames Gateway Cluster encompasses, either in whole or in part, the boundaries of three Local Borough Councils; Dartford, Gravesham and . An area of the cluster is also served by and Malling Borough Council; however no major developments are planned for this area.

Each local council is required to produce a Core Strategy Document under the National Planning Policy Framework which has been referenced to assess the projected development and associated future risk within the cluster.

The Dartford Core Strategy Document identifies five priority areas for development:

 Dartford Town Centre  Northern Gateway Strategic Site  Ebbsfleet to Stone Priority Area  Ebbsfleet Valley Strategic Site  Thames Waterfront

The Gravesham Core Strategy Document identifies four opportunity areas:

 Northfleet Embankment and Swanscombe Peninsula East  Gravesend Riverside East and North Gravesend  Gravesend Town Centre  Ebbsfleet (Gravesham) Opportunity Area

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The Sevenoaks Core Strategy Document identifies three locations for major development:

 Sevenoaks  Swanley  Edenbridge

N.B. Sevenoaks and Edenbridge are not located within the Thames Gateway cluster:

Population and Housing As with National trend predictions the population of the Thames Gateway cluster is set to increase over the next ten years, necessitating an increase in available housing stock

Dartford Borough populations are projected to increase to 129,000 by 2026, bringing the total required number of households up to 55,000.

The population of the Gravesham Borough was 101,700 in 2011, an increase of around 6,000 compared to the 2001 census figure, this increase is projected to continue into the future.

To meet the housing required within the Sevenoaks Borough 3,300 dwellings are needed. The Core Strategy targets that at least two thirds of new housing is to be provided in Sevenoaks, Swanley and Edenbridge.

Major Developments Three major developments have been identified within the Thames Gateway cluster:

 The Ebbsfleet Valley  London Paramount Entertainment Resort  The Lower Thames Crossing

Ebbsfleet Valley The Ebbsfleet Garden City Project, located within the Ebbsfleet Valley, is a new redevelopment located within the Thames Gateway Cluster. Primarily the development sits within the with a small part of the site lying within the Borough of Gravesham. The Ebbsfleet Valley development has been identified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.

The new community is planned to have a population of 40,000 with up to 15,000 new homes.

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The current development design is shown below.

London Paramount Entertainment Resort The London Paramount Project is planned to be located on the Swanscombe peninsular North of Swanscombe town within the Borough of Dartford. The plans for the site include a water park, theatres, live music venues, attractions, cinemas, restaurants, event space and hotels.

The London Paramount Entertainment Resort has also been awarded Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project status.

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A map showing the development boundary is shown below.

The Lower Thames Crossing Future traffic congestion is set to increase significantly at the . An additional crossing of the Thames has been identified as a requirement for continued economic growth within the South East of England.

Currently two options, with one additional variant, are being considered for the new crossing.

Option A: This option would provide additional long-term capacity at Dartford through the delivery of a new crossing while retaining all existing infrastructure (bridge and tunnels).

Option C: This option comprises the provision of a new crossing to the east of Gravesend and . It would need to link the M25 with the M2 and thus form a major new piece of infrastructure in the strategic road network. It would potentially provide a direct route for longer distance movements using the north-east section of the M25 and the M2 as well as providing some relief to the existing crossing.

Option C variant: This option includes option C, described above, with an additional link to the M20 for long distance traffic, which has been assumed to take the form of widening the A229 which links the M2 and M20.

Option B: Following public consultation option B, which connected the A2 Swanscombe Peninsula with the A1089, was discarded in December 2013 so that further work could be undertaken in determining which of the remaining options is the most suitable.

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The proposed new routes, and the rejected option B, are shown in the map below.

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