The transcript and an image of the Inspector's Report into the proposed route of the M25 is shown below.
The extract is significant as it could keep the light pollution in the Well Hill area to a minimum.
XXI.- Fog: and Lighting
H340. I have noted in B36 that fog and low cloud are known to persist on the higher parts of the Downs.
The Shackland's Road Valley was recognised locally as being particularly prone to fog and hanging mists especially in the morning.
Some objectors argued this was itself an objection to the suitability of the line of the PR.
Others, like DANDAG, argued that the fog could lead to crashes and although the Department might not propose lighting at present it would do so to prevent further accidents.
The necessary lighting - in the Shackland's Road area and possibly elsewhere - would add to the intrusiveness of the PR.
H341. The Department intended only to light the slip roads at Swanley,
the A224/A21 all-purpose link road and the A21 which would become part of the PR
(which is already lit by what Mr May terms "infernal lamps").
It was not the Department's policy to light rural motorways or all their interchanges.
Sections of motorway prone to frequent fog may be lit
but the Department does not light motorways for fog in daylight.
H342. The Department had consulted the Meteorological Office who said that fog and mist
would be more frequent in the valley bottom than further up the slopes.
They did not believe that conditions would be significantly worse than in equivalent valleys.
H343. Comment Fog, in my view, cannot be considered solely by reference to its
occurrence on the PR.
It would, like traffic, have to be considered on all the relevant roads in the area.
The evidence is somewhat inconclusive but there seems no reason to believe that fog is a significant factor
in deciding whether there should be a motorway or on what line it should take.
H344. I agree with DANDAG that if the PR were to be lit this could cause serious visual intrusion
- certainly on some exposed sections.
With the Department's present policy, however,
the question of lighting on the PR can, in effect, be left out of the account.
