Safety appeal for Badgers Mount

I met members of Badgers Mount Residents Association today to receive an appeal for safety measures on the Orpington by-pass and Old London Road. Both roads have had speeding problems for some time and, although some measures have been taken (such as the pedestrian island near the turning to the Memorial Hall, installed some years ago) the problems have not abated. In July there was a shocking accident on the Orpington by-pass when a long-standing resident, Mr Peter Howlett, was killed, and there have also been severe incidents on Old London Road.

The BMRA has come up with a thoroughly researched set of proposals for both roads, involving speed limit changes, further traffic islands and other measures. I will now present this report to Kent Highways and begin a discussion with them on what can and should be done, while continuing to work with BMRA. With central funding tight at present, my Member Highway Fund may be one way of securing improvements.

School Run Safety Campaign meeting in Eynsford

Last night I chaired an Open Forum meeting set up by the School Run Safety Campaign (SRSC), which brings together groups and individuals concerned to tackle the traffic and parking problems around Anthony Roper Primary School. You can find the SRSC's Facebook page here. I serve on it, along with parents with children at the school, the school head Lynda Newton, Parish Councillors and Eynsford's District Councillor Michael Horwood.

The purpose of the meeting was to run through the efforts of recent years to tackle the problems - including the crossing near the school and the relatively modest additions of yellow lines - to report the results of the recent SRSC survey of parents and to look at options for the future. Those attending were mostly parents of children at the school. Encouragingly, there was a good geographical spread; many were from Eynsford and Farningham (64% of children at the school come from the two villages) but others were from Swanley, West Kingsdown and other areas further from the school. A lot of ideas were discussed, including addressing the most difficult parts of the route down from Farningham to the school, the merits of different sites for yellow lines and the best ways to make use of alternative parking sites in the village.

I've already heard from parents who attended the meeting that it was good to know that the problem has not been ignored and is being seriously addressed. But the next step is to draw on the work already done and on last night's discussion to make some decisions. The SRSC is likely to bring forward some suggested priorities to parents and residents soon. In the meantime, and especially if you weren't able to attend the meeting, please post them on SRSC's Facebook page or email them to eynsfordschoolrun@yahoo.co.uk

New 409B bus reported a success

As per my previous post, Go-Goach - with support from KCC - launched an extra 409 bus service recently. This additional service - the 409B - stops near The Bridges pub before coming south down the Dartford Road. This route is much more useful to students from Hoton Kirby and South Darenth going to the Knole Academy than the usual 409 route, which goes via Wilmington. I hear that the new service is well-supported and hopefully is making life easier for families in these villages. The press has also picked up the story; here, for example is an article in the Sevenoaks Chronicle.

Further drainage works in Goldsel Road

Residents have long been concerned about flooding in Goldsel Road, and I have been pursuing  this issue with Kent Highways over the last eighteen months. The engineers have proposed a two-stage solution. The first stage of the works, which was to increase the storage for the soakaways, took place in January. However, the second stage - putting in deep bores to improve the way that the water soaks out of the chambers - has itself taken a couple of visits by the engineers, the second of them over the last couple of days. We will then have to judge how the new system copes with heavy rainfall, but hopefully it will deliver significant improvement.

New 409B starts on Monday

School students traveling from Horton Kirby and South Darenth to the Knole Academy should benefit from an additional bus service that starts on Monday. The ceasing of the 407 bus, which stopped in Horton Kirby, has meant that the young people have faced either a roudabout journey on the 409 - going north to Wilmington before heading down to Farningham and then going south - or having their parents take them to Farningham to meet the bus there.

Parents told me of their worries about this some weeks ago, and I contacted the operator, Go-Coach, as well as Kent County Council. KCC was willing to subsidise an additional service, the 409B, which starts on Monday and which will take a different route. It will come in along Station Road, stop near The Bridges pub and then go back before going south down the Dartford Road. This should give those going to the Knole from the two villages a significantly easier journey.

Many thanks to both Go-Coach and KCC Transport Integration for stepping up to the plate. It's now a case of 'use it or lose it' - hopefully the route will get good support.