Earlier this year, the cost of preparing the planning application for the Lower Thames Crossing had already topped £300 million. And every penny of that came out of the public purse. Add to that the 350,000-plus documents produced by various government departments over the course of its planning and consultation saga – one of the biggest in British planning history – and it means the crossing has become something of a behemoth before a spade has been sunk into the ground. A decision on whether the government was to give it the go-ahead was expected from Transport Minister Louise Haigh on Frida…