Goldsel Road lighting

As reported just before Christmas, the problem of the power being out for lights in Goldsel Road was addressed by UK Power Networks. However, it then became clear that, as a result of the power being out at the time that the new lighting was due to be installed, this had not taken place.

I have been in contact with KCC's lighting engineer, who was following up with the contractors to ensure that the works now took place. This has now been done; the new lights are in place and the stumps of the old posts have been removed. However, two of the new lights have not yet been turned on. KCC's lighting engineer has raised a notice of a defect with the contractors, and so a crew should be on site to resolve this shortly.

Works completed in Holmesdale Road

The works to remove an unwanted rumble strip and install bollards near Giffords Cottages in Holmesdale Road, South Darenth, started on schedule on 25 January. The works, which also included some resurfacing of the road, necessitated a road closure. All this was carried out successfully, as the (admittedly rather dark) picture demonstrates.

The only outstanding item is that some yellow lines need repainting. KCC's lining team is committed to doing this as soon as possible (weather permitting, of course) and I understand that on Friday our Highways Steward was due on site to measure up for the reinstallation.

LED street lighting contract awarded

KCC has awarded the £40 million contract for converting its 118,000 street lights to Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology to Bouygues Energies and Services. The contract award represents another step towards delivering major savings on the County Council's £9.2 million annual spend in street lighting.

The conversion of street lights in residential areas to LED should begin as soon as March. The entire conversion project should be completed in a little over three years, though the residential areas should be complete much sooner than that. It had originally appeared likely that areas that had been the first to be moved to part-night lighting (such as Sevenoaks District) would be the first in line for LED. This now appears less likely, but in any case LED should reach Sevenoaks, including Darent Valley, soon.

The adoption of LED, and the annual savings of up to £5.2 million that it will deliver, will provide the opportunity to revisit the part-night lighting policy. The results of a consultation on a new policy will be discussed at a KCC committee meeting in February.

Flooding on the A225

Many residents have told me of their concerns about flooding on the A225 at the railway bridge between Shoreham and Eynsford (near Preston Hill and Preston Farm). Heavy flooding on a major road by a sharp bend is a clear hazard.

Kent Highways officers have been trying to identify and deal with the problem for some time. Most recently, a CCTV survey on the land near the bridge took place on 4 January; this identified some buried gullies and a buried chamber, but it was not possible to carry out all the work needed on the day. A further survey was undertaken on 22 January. This identified two buried catch pits and a buried soakaway. All of these buried drainage systems have now been opened up.

The system will be cleansed on 4 February, and tests undertaken to determine how effective this is in getting the drainage system to work. If the cleansing is not sufficient, more drastic works will be undertaken. As usual, I will update in a further post when I know more.

Preston Hill sale deferred

While Lullingstone Park is not set for any major changes following the County Council's market engagement process last year, it had appeared to be a different story for another country park in the Darent Valley, Preston Hill between Shoreham and Eynsford. Preston Hill was one of five sites identified (under a different process) for potential disposal in the current financial year, and notices to this effect were published in the local press during the last week. This is a formal notice, not an advertisement for sale; the latter would follow if the County Council were to proceed with the disposal after consultation.

Preston Hill is certainly a very different proposition from Lullingstone; the County Council's reasoning for looking at possible disposal was that it is harder to access and lacks public facilities (including a car park) and so attracts relatively few visitors. This made it a poor fit with the County Council's Country Parks strategy, which aimed to focus resources on sites that are well-used by residents.

At the same time, Preston Hill is an environmentally sensitive site, being part of the Otford to Shoreham Downs Site of Special Scientific Interest, with rare chalk grassland and ancient woodland. This would clearly impose significant obligations on any potential buyer of the site. There is also a historic rifle range on site, which has been restored through a Natural England HLS (Higher Level Stewardship) capital grant and the maintenance of which would need to be ensured.

The County Council has, however, now announced that the disposal process for the five sites is being suspended, pending further consultation with local communities, seeking to ensure "that the sites remain open to the public and are financially viable." This sounds like a very welcome development, and I will post an update if and when I know more.

Boundary Commission: the final verdict

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has now issued its final recommendations for new Division boundaries for Kent County Council, to come into force at the elections in 2017. They will be laid before Parliament in a draft order in the coming months before being formally adopted.

As I wrote in the autumn, the Boundary Commission revised significantly its earlier proposals for Sevenoaks District. It was already established that, as part of the reduction in size of the County Council from 84 Members to 81, Sevenoaks would lose one Division. It has also long been clear that the undersized Swanley division would have to expand to the South, taking in Christchurch and High Firs polling districts. But in other respects, the Commission's revisions were very significant regarding Darent Valley; bringing Swanley Village back in rather than incorporating it into Swanley, putting transferring Badgers Mount to Sevenoaks West, and expanding a renamed Sevenoaks East and Darent Valley to the south and east as far as Seal.

Following a further consultation, the Commission has stuck with these revised recommendations. Swanley Christchurch and High Firs go into an enlarged Swanley Division, but Swanley Village stays in what will now be the Sevenoaks North & Darent Valley Division. In spite of strong representations to the contrary from the Parish Council and others (including me), Badgers Mount is transferred to the Sevenoaks West Division, which will run down the western County border as far as Westerham. 

All other parishes in the existing Darent Valley will remain in the successor Division, and will be joined in it by Otford, Kemsing and Seal. The result will be a very large Division indeed, in terms both of area (especially north-south) and in terms of electors per County Councillor (at 15,629, the second highest in the County).

You can find full details of the Review, including maps, on the LGBCE's website.

Grammar annexe: on with the work

The three month deadline for a Judicial Review of Education Secretary Nicky Morgan's decision to approve the expansion of Weald of Kent Grammar School on the former Wildernesse School site in Sevenoaks expired last week. Pressure group Comprehensive Future effectively abandoned its JR attempt, alleging that it had not been able to secure the documentation it needed. The County Council's view - and mine - was always that WoK's expansion plan in Sevenoaks were a strong and legally compliant proposal, making the Education Secretary's decision hard to challenge.

As I commented to the Sevenoaks Chronicle, this removes the last legal uncertainty regarding the annexe; work to build it can now go on. We will not instantly see activity taking place on the ground; over the next few months there will need to be some further elaboration of the design, mobilisation of sub-contractors and other essential preparatory work. But there should be work taking place on site from late spring, and that will be needed to deliver the annexe for its opening date of September 2017.

I have long argued that there was both a Sevenoaks problem (lack of grammar provision in an area in which many students pass the Kent Test) and a West Kent problem (the need for more grammar places as part of the response to rising secondary rolls); it is logical to tackle the two problems together. For girls' provision at least, that is now in sight.