M25 junction 28 improvements

Upgrading junction 28 of the M25 between the M25 and the A12 in Essex.

Start date 2021-22

End date TBC

Cost £120 million to £150 million

Visualisation of the preferred route

Latest updates

08 July 2021

Examination completed

The examination into our proposals to make improvements to the M25 junction 28 has finished.

A report will now be prepared by the Planning Inspector for the Secretary of State, including a recommendation about whether the scheme should go ahead or not. This report is not made available until a decision is announced by the Secretary of State. We’re expecting this decision at the start of next year.

All documents relating to the Development Consent Order (DCO), including documents, drawings and plans can be viewed on the Planning Inspectorate webpage.

Thank you to everyone for their engagement and contribution in the development of the scheme to date.

Our video explains more about the how we develop new road schemes and the DCO process.
07 May 2021

Examination update – date confirmed for next public hearing

The next stage of the examination of our proposals for the M25 junction 28 has been confirmed by the Planning Inspectorate.

A public hearing, known as Issue Specific Hearing, will be held on 12 May 2021. This hearing will cover a number of different elements of the scheme, including traffic and noise. You can view the agenda and topics on the Planning Inspectorate website. Due to Covid, the hearing will be held virtually.

As part of the examination process, the inspectors can decide to hold hearings around specific issues, which allows them to ask questions and clarify evidence that has been submitted.

While hearings are open for everyone, priority to speak is given to interested parties. More information about attending or viewing the hearing can be found on the Planning Inspectorate website.

The Planning Inspectorate acts on behalf of the Secretary of State. Once the review is complete, a recommendation is made to the Secretary of State for Transport, who will decide on whether or not the scheme will go ahead.
27 April 2021
Surveys - April 2021

This month, we’ll be carrying out some surveys, as part of the Development Consent Order (DCO) process, for the M25 junction 28 improvement scheme.

You may spot our teams using specialist equipment close to the junction to gather information about what’s below the ground, including the drainage, and to check if there is any archaeology that we need to be aware of as part of our scheme.

For us to carry out this work safely, we will need to have some temporary road closures in place. These will be overnight to minimise impact to road users.
- The A12 northbound carriageway at junction 28 will be closed from 10pm on Tuesday 27 April, reopening by 5am Wednesday 28 April. During the closure, you’ll need to leave the road at the junction 28 northbound exit slip, then re-join the A12 using the junction 28 entry slip.
- The M25 junction 28 eastbound exit slip road/A12 northbound will be closed from 10pm on Thursday 29 April, re-opening by 5am Friday 30 April. You will still be able to exit the M25 at junction 28, where a signed diversion will take you off the second exit of the roundabout onto the A1203. Then follow the A1203 to join the A12 at junction 12. Depending on progress and the weather, this closure may also be required between 10pm Friday 30 April to 5am Saturday 1 May.
07 April 2021

Examination update – April 2021

The start of March saw the first round of public hearings held by the Planning Inspectorate. Forming part of the examination process of our proposals to improve the M25 junction 28, the hearings provide the inspectors the opportunity to ask questions about information that has been submitted.

Due to the current restrictions, all the hearings were held virtually. Recordings and written versions of the sessions can be found on the Planning Inspectorate website.

The examination process takes up to six months, before a report and recommendation is produced for the Secretary of State. Our video will help you understand more about how it works.

We’ve also recently published a series of suggested changes to the scheme via the Planning Inspectorate website. We've requested feedback on these changes from those affected. More information about the changes can be found in our letter to the Examining Authority.
12 February 2021

Examination update

The Planning Inspectorate has confirmed the dates for the next stage of its examination of our proposals for the M25 junction 28.

A series of public hearings will be held during the week commencing 1 March 2021, covering a number of different issues. The agendas and topics for each of the hearings can be found on the Planning Inspectorate website and on our public notice. Due to Covid, all the hearings will be held virtually.

The examination is mainly a written process, but the inspectors can decide to hold hearings around specific issues. These hearings provide the inspectors the opportunity to ask questions and clarify evidence that has been submitted. Invites to attend the hearings are automatically sent to those who have registered an interest in the issue.

While hearings are open for everyone, priority to speak will be given to interested parties. More information about attending or viewing the hearing can be found on the Planning Inspectorate website.

The Planning Inspectorate acts on behalf of the Secretary of State. Once the review is complete, a recommendation is made to the Secretary of State for Transport, who will decide on whether or not the scheme will go ahead.
27 January 2021

Examination timetable announced

The Planning Inspectorate has announced the dates for its review of our plans to improve the M25 junction 28, marking the start of the six-month ‘Examination’ period.

The Preliminary Meeting was held virtually across two days and closed on 7 January 2021. This meeting introduced the inspectors to a mixed audience of residents, stakeholders and groups with an interest in the scheme, and gave an overview of the review.

Following the meeting, the Inspectorate formally set out the timetable, known as a Rule 8 letter, and issued its first written questions. The timetable includes deadlines for items such as written representations, impact reports, comments on representations made by other parties and dates for hearings.

A copy of the letter, questions and notes from meeting can be viewed on the Planning Inspectorate webpage. Documents and information gathered as part of the review will also be made available.

Once the review is complete, a report is prepared for the Secretary of State, who then makes the decision to grant or refuse development consent.
16 December 2020

M25 junction 28 – what’s happening?

The Examining Authority are currently undertaking an independent examination. They are assessing the important and relevant issues along with the initial views of the ‘Interested Parties’ of the proposed improvements to the M25 junction 28. The Examining Authority will then issue an initial assessment of the issues that they would like to examine along with a draft timetable for the examination.

A ‘Preliminary Meeting’ will then be held, and due to the current restrictions around public events, this meeting could be online and take place over a couple of days.

Following this meeting a final timetable will be issued and the six month ‘Examination’ period will start. During the examination period, hearings will take place where ‘Interested Parties’ are invited to provide more details of their views in writing and the Examining Authority will ask their written questions. All documents received and issued by the Planning Inspectorate will be published on the Planning Inspectorate webpage.

Following the examination, the Examining Authority will then prepare a report to the Secretary of State for Transport, including a recommendation about whether to grant or refuse development consent. Within three months of the close of the examination, the report will then be sent to the Secretary of State and is not published until the decision is made.

The Secretary of State then has 3 months to make a decision to grant or refuse development consent. Both this decision and the Examining Authority’s report will then be available on the Planning Inspectorate webpage.

We submitted an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) on 27 May 2020 and it was accepted for examination on 24 June 2020. All documents relating to the DCO, including the application form and accompanying documents, drawings, plans and maps and the Environmental Statement can be viewed electronically and free of charge on the Planning Inspectorate webpage. Alternatively, you can view these documents at either Brentwood library or Essex library.
15 July 2020

Give your views on the scheme

There will be a six-week representation period followed by further time to arrange the examination, before the formal six-month examination period can start. During the examination, the Planning Inspectorate will issue requests for further information from us and other parties to be provided in writing. They also will facilitate a series of public hearings.

To contribute to this process, you will need to register as an Interested Party once the representation period opens and make a Relevant Representation outlining your views to the Planning Inspectorate. The Planning Inspectorate need to receive this during the representation period. We will carry out targeted publicity about the representation period when the arrangements including dates are finalised. You also can receive updates on the scheme from the Planning Inspectorate, including confirmation of when you can submit a Relevant Representation, by signing up to scheme updates on the Planning Inspectorate webpage for the scheme.

The Planning Inspectorate website has an advice note which outlines how the general public can get involved including how to submit a Relevant Representation in order to become an Interested Party.
01 July 2020

Application for Development Consent Order

Our proposals for the M25 junction 28 improvement scheme are the subject of an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO). We are applying for a DCO to give us the planning permission and legal powers we need to build the scheme. We have submitted our application to the Planning Inspectorate, the government agency responsible for operating the planning process for DCOs. Our DCO application was accepted by the Planning Inspectorate on 24 June 2020 for formal examination.

You can view our application on the Planning Inspectorate website.
06 December 2019

Supplementary consultation now closed

Our supplementary consultation on the proposed changes and newly identified impacts of the scheme closed on 2 December at 11.59pm. You can still view all of the information about our proposals in the 'Project media files and documents' section below.

We would like to thank those who got involved, as we begin to review, consider and analyse your feedback.

This scheme is categorised as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project under the Planning Act 2008. As such, we're required to make an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to obtain the necessary approvals to construct and operate the scheme.

See more updates

Project information

We have identified a number of issues at the junction which are impacting on the local and regional economies and their ability to achieve their full potential. These include:

congestion and delay disrupting journeys on our road network and local roads
actual and significant perceived safety concerns connected to driver movements on the roundabout
resilience to incidents is poor, resulting in significant disruption and unreliable journey times
poor air quality

We reviewed this junction in our London Orbital and M23 to Gatwick Route Strategy Evidence Report, and this scheme was included in the March 2015 Road Investment Strategy. In response to this we developed our Delivery Plan which outlines the next steps for taking the scheme forward.

Our research shows that if we don’t improve junction 28 by 2037, we can expect:

increased congestion and lengthy queues, at least 5 times worse than at present
a 25% reduction in average speeds through the junction (excluding mainline M25 and A12)
widespread disruption following incidents
constraints on future development and growth opportunities
local air quality issues to deteriorate

We’ve established a number of scheme objectives to address the challenges:

increase capacity and reduce congestion and delays by providing an improved link from M25 to A12
reduce the incident rate and resulting disruption by increasing the capacity of the roundabout
improve the safety on the roundabout by reducing traffic levels and redesigning the existing layout
cater for future traffic demands to enable development and economic growth
minimise the impact on local air quality and noise by smoothing the traffic flow
protect access for non-motorised users (pedestrians and cyclists) and improve conditions wherever possible

As a result of ongoing engagement and further development of the M25 junction 28 scheme, we are looking to make some changes to our submitted Development Consent Order (DCO) application.

We held three non-statutory targeted consultations around these changes and details about these are outlined below.

For each consultation, we targeted the following groups:

affected prescribed bodies, as defined by the Planning Act 2008
landowners and people with an interest in affected land
Interested Parties registered with the Planning Inspectorate, where we held contact details.

Changes 1-4

A consultation took place from 4 January to 4 February 2021 for changes 1-4. Details of each change is outlined below.

You can also view our report on these changes on Planning Inspectorate website, along with the technical drawings.

Change 1 – Removal of surplus construction materials deposit to the west of Weald Brook (Work No. 17)

In our DCO application, we proposed two construction material deposit areas – Work No. 17 and Work No. 18. During construction, material deposit areas are used to rehouse materials, for example excess soil, that needs to be moved to allow us to build the proposed improvements.

Following discussions with the Environment Agency, we are looking at not using the area to the west of Weald Brook for the deposit of materials, and instead create an earth embankment, also known as a bund. More details about this embankment can be found in Change 2.

The material from the historic Brook Street landfill and from our work in the Grove Farm area will be re-used on site for the new A12 slip road.

Change 2 – Amendment to the surplus construction materials deposit (Work No. 18) to form an environmental bund

As outlined in Change 1, we are proposing to use some of the materials removed during construction to create an earth embankment (Work No. 18), known as a bund, rather than using the deposit area which was proposed under Work No. 17 in our DCO application.

The embankment would be up to 2.5 m high, with slopped sides. Running alongside the A12 and the loop road, it forms a reverse L-shape. Woodland planting would cover the south and east sides. On the western edge, there will be a flat grassed area to allow vehicle access for any future maintenance. This area is known as a berm.

The embankment provides visual benefits as well as some very limited noise screening to the residents at Maylands Cottages and users of Maylands Golf Course.

Change 3 – Refinement of golf course accommodation works (Work No. 32)

We will need to complete some work on the Maylands Golf Course to provide us with the space to make improvements to the junction. These works are known as Work No. 32 in our DCO.

Following discussions with the golf club, we are proposing a new boardwalk, which will provide a safe route for players to walk back from the green of the realigned second hole to the third tee while minimising any interruption to play.

Change 4 – Amendment to the lateral limits of deviation for the Cadent gas pipeline diversion – southern connection (Work No. 29)

Since our DCO application was accepted by the Planning Inspectorate, we have been working with Cadent to develop a detailed design of the pipeline diversion.

In our proposals, we identified Plot 1/8 for the southern parts of the pipeline diversion. We are now proposing to reduce the extent of land required to construct and then maintain the diverted pipeline in this area.

Changes 5-7

A consultation for our next set of changes, Changes 5-7, took place between 23 March to 22 April 2021.

A copy of the letter outlining these changes can be viewed on the Planning Inspectorate website.

Change 5 – Reduction to the realignment of the Weald Brook (Work No. 23C)

We need to build a bridge to carry the new M25 loop road over the Weald Brook, Duck Wood bridge. In our application, this bridge had a central support that would require a stretch of the brook to be realigned – shown as Work No. 23C.

Having further developed the design of the bridge, we are proposing to remove the central support. This means we are able to reduce the amount of the Weald Brook that needs to be straightened from 70m to 40m.

Change 6 – Realignment of UK Power Network (UKPN) diversion (Work No. 30)

We are proposing a new route for the UK Power Networks (UKPN) cable diversion. The cable would be below the ground and run closer to the M25. Starting at the UKPN’s substation on the M25 northbound on-slip near the Brook Street roundabout, the diversion runs to the existing underground cable adjacent to the Weald Brook culvert to the west of the M25.

The underground cable requires a three-metre-wide corridor of clear land running the length of route, this is known as an easement.

Change 7 – Refinement of Maylands golf course accommodation works (Work No. 32)

Following on from Change 3 above, we have been working with Maylands Golf Club on the design for relocating the second hole on the course, and other related works. If Change 7 is accepted by the Planning Inspector, we will no longer need Change 3 and we will only progress with this change.

Following completion of consultation on Changes 5-7 we submitted a request to the Planning Inspectorate to consider these changes on 27 April.

Change 8 – Grove Farm egress – revisions to Work No. 15

This consultation is taking place from 20 April – 18 May 2021

Following feedback from Grove Farm, we are looking at relocating the proposed exit road from the farm onto the A12 away from the property, known as Work No. 15.

This should remove the risk of lorries leaving the farm passing directly outside the property to approach the new A12 eastbound. Following completion of the consultation exercise we will consider whether to then make a request to the Planning Inspectorate to consider this change.