Make a Difference Day in Shoreham

Today volunteers in Shoreham came together for Make a Difference Day - tidying the churchyard, cleaning road signs, cutting back hedges and much else to improve the look of the village. Some 60 volunteers took part, many of them children from Shoreham School, for much of the time in the rain. Thank you to the volunteers, and to the Shoreham Society for organising the Day - and for inviting me to hand out certificates to the volunteers this afternoon. Michelle Lowe, District Councillor for Shoreham and I joined the volunteers in the church of St Peter and St Paul for a rousing end to the day.

South Darenth Post Office - UPDATE

Good news - there has been agreement today not to close South Darenth Post Office on 15 November. I understand that the temporary agent currently operating the Post Office will do so until further notice, and that there will be a meeting between Post Office Limited and Hobbs Pharmacy on Monday to discuss a longer-term solution.

Congratulations to all in the community who made such strong representations that the Pst Office must stay open.

South Darenth Post Office

A lot of concerned residents have contacted me in the last week about the threatened closure of South Darenth Post Office on 15 November.

It appears that this has been brought on by a dispute between the managers of the Post Office and Post Office Limited over terms of payment. Post Office Limited appear to be seeking to impose a contract that the managers of the South Darenth Post Office, Hobbs Pharmacy, find unacceptable. I also understand that this reflects a general trend for Post Office Ltd to move towards so-called local contracts with postmasters.

I have been in close contact with our MP Michael Fallon's office; he has made representations to Post Office Ltd at national level. I have also spoken with Action with Communities in Rural Kent, who are experts in helping communities affected by closures or threatened closures of Post Offices. Through them I have also been in contact with the local/ regional arm of Post Office Ltd. What we are all seeking to do is to encourage Post Office Ltd to take a different approach to the contract offered to the managers of the South Darenth Post Office, which hopefully could enable it to stay open. If this fails, the next step would be to get Post Office Ltd to put alternative plans in place for the service to the village.

A20 lagoon - avoiding flooding

Residents of Glendale and parts of Pinks Hill will remember the serious flooding in 2005 caused by the overflow of the soakaway lagoon by the A20. The soakaway is owned by the Highways Agency. At the time, I worked with Kent Highways officers and Swanley Town Council to ensure that action was taken and a commitment was given that there would be regular maintenance to prevent further overflows.

With the heavy rains this year, some residents have naturally been concerned that the problem could recur. At my request, Kent Highways have pursued the issue with the Highways Agency. The contractor working with the Highways Agency has now replied that:

"Maintenance work that is undertaken is a strip of vegetation to provide access to the entrance of the lagoon for our workforce to check the valves and grills to make sure they are free from large debris. The pond is on our maintenance schedule and is inspected once a year when the work mentioned above is carried out."  A recent inspection had found relatively high levels of water in the lagoon, but not at levels that seemed surprising given the extremely wet summer.

Coupled with the fact that the recent wet weather has not so far resulted in overflows from the lagoon, this appears to offer some reassurance. However, we will of course respond quickly to any signs of past problems recurring.

Mary Inniss

I was deeply saddened to hear earlier this week of the death of Mary Inniss. Mary was a central figure  in the life of Shoreham, giving lengthy service on the Parish Council and chairing the Governors of Shoreham School. She saw the school through some challenging times to its present, much stronger position. Dealing as I have with a number of issues at the school, including appeals, I know how much she cared about the success of the school and of the children who go there.

She was deeply committed to Lullingstone as a Country Park, and when we constituted a Liaison Group to ensure that local people's voices were heard in decision-making about the park, it was natural that she should serve on it. She was also an active member of the local Conservatives, and I am deeply grateful for the support that she gave me. Her husband Richard shared all these interests and commitments and supported her through her illness.

I will miss her.

Road safety measures in Crockenhill

For a long time, local residents and the Parish Council have sought solutions to safety problems at the junction of Main Road, Cray Road and Broadway. I have committed money from my Member Highway Fund for either a mini-roundabout or a change of priorities at the junction.

However, the safety audit at Kent Highways concluded that these measures would require removal of many of the parking bays by the local shops - which would be disastrous for those businesses and the village. So, frustratingly, it has been back to the drawing board. However, after a site visit involving Kent Highways officers, the Parish Clerk and me, some fresh proposals have been brought forward. These include an interactive sign on the Cray Road approach (where vehicles are most likely to approach at speed) as well as other signs and road markings on the three approaches to the junction to  emphasise to drivers that they are coming towards it and into the centre of the village. Highways officers are also looking at better signage to deter inappropriate HGV journeys into the village centre, in particular by those simply following their SatNavs.

Local residents have waited a long time for measures that will tackle the problems at this junction, but we now have some clear proposals and a will to get on with them as quickly as possible.

Crown Road Shoreham - the wrong sort of yellow lines

In June the Sevenoaks Jojnt Transportation Board voted to put in yellow lines at the corner of Crown Road and High Street in Shoreham. The lines have now been painted, but not in the style that residents had hoped for.

When yellow lines were first proposed for Shoreham, a number of residents expressed concern at they would be too intrusive for the village. I therefore secured from Kent Highways an agreement that the yellow lines would be in a style suitable for a conservation area, in a primrose yellow and rather narrower than the standard lines. This commitment has been repeated at least once since then. However - and I think that this is because of changes in personnel in Kent Highways, resulting in a loss of continuity in handling the issue - what we have is standard yellow lines.

I have raised the issue with Kent Highways and will endeavour to get it resolved as soon as possible. Replacing yellow lines once they are painted is not quite as simple as we might think (or as I might have thought), but the problem clearly needs to be resolved and will be, so that these necessary measures are carried out in a way that suits the character of the village.