Paul Carter, the Conservative leader of the authority said they have been working very closely with the Kent Resilience Forum and various other partners to develop robust plans in case of any disruption following Britain’s exit from the European Union.
He said: “I sincerely hope that we never have to implement any of our contingency plans and that the UK has a smooth exit from Europe.
“However, we don’t know whether or not that will be the case. We must never forget the chaos that we had across half of this county in 2015.”
He said the county must avoid a repeat of Operation Stack, which saw the M20 closed in both directions in 2015, costing the Kent economy around £1.45 million a day and the UK economy an estimated £250 million a day for the three weeks that it took to resolve.
“Doctors couldn’t get to hospitals, domiciliary care workers struggled to reach their clients, weddings were cancelled,” said Mr Carter.
He said the Department for Transport needed to share its plans with the county council and fast track them £20million to invest in the necessary technology, barriers signage and vital preparation that Kent needs to avoid a repeat of the issues.
“We now need far more input and information from national government in how they are going to work with us,” said Mr Carter.
“These contingency plans are not just about Brexit. They should be in place to prepare the county for any eventuality – a fire in the channel tunnel, strikes and delays.”
