Pinks Hill: the next steps

This week I met on site in Pinks Hill with local residents, our Kent Highways drainage engineer for the area and representatives from Connect Plus (delivery agents for the Highways Agency).

The ditch near the A20, which I have written about before in several posts, remains a major cause for concern. Some weeks ago it filled up rapidly and at some points overtopped. Whereas it was possible to argue that earlier this year we were in the midst of the wettest January since the days of George III, this was heavy but not outlandish levels of rain. The Highways Agency/ Connect Plus undertook significant works on the ditch following our last site meeting in January, but it remains a major worry for local residents.

We took an extensive tour of the site, including the lagoon (pictured - currently at relatively low levels but clearly subject to quite rapid fluctuations). There is further work to be done to establish the direction of flows of water between the lagoon, the ditch and the other side of the A20. Once that is completed, there is likely to be a strong case for works including expanding the lagoon. The Highways Agency were examining such a project earlier in the year, but understandably the immediate crisis took priority.

The meeting was very constructive; at the same time, it is clear that these more structural solutions to the problem will take time. Meanwhile, we will need to establish more immediate ways to protect residents from a recurrence of serious flooding through an agreed contingency plan by the Highways Agency and Kent Highways and if possible additional protection for the properties most immediately affected.