Goldsel Road - lights reported back on

Perhaps my shortest ever post ...  I have just had an email from a resident telling me that the lights in Goldsel Road are back on. Good news, and I'm only sorry that it has taken quite so long.

Works to go ahead in South Darenth

Some time ago, I committed to support some works outside Giffords Cottages in Holmesdale Road, South Darenth, from my Combined Member Fund.

An unwanted rumble strip that is highly damaging to nearby properties will be removed. At the same time, new bollards will be installed outside Giffords Cottages, providing some protection from large vehicles and replacing the rather unsightly barrier currently in place. 

I visited the site with Highways officers a few days ago, along with the Horton Kirby and South Darenth Parish Clerk, to check final details of the project. It will require a road closure and Kent Highways will take the opportunity to carry out some much-needed repairs to the surface (paid for from the general Highways budget rather than my Member Fund). The works should certainly be soon; if all goes well, they could be carried out as soon as January.

Goldsel Road latest

Since my previous post, I have kept in contact with Kent Highways' lighting engineer regarding the work that UK Power Networks are undertaking to fix the fault in Goldsel Road. I understand that UKPN were on siteyesterday; they have identified the cable that is causing the problem, but not the exact point at which there is a fault. They have been in the area again today, trying to get another power supply to the cable, which would help them identify the fault more precisely. Three vans were on site and a large trench was dug.

I understand that, to hit UKPN’s own targets for fixing faults, the issue should be resolved by today; however, that will clearly depend on their ability to identify what needs to be done. Hopefully that will be soon.

As before, I will post again as soon as I have further news.

Lights out in Goldsel Road

Since late October, Crockenhill residents have been increasingly concerned about the darkness in a major part of Goldsel Road, running from alongside Dibsdall Meadow to the bridge over the A20. The street lights have now been out for the best part of a month. I have taken a number of calls and emails from local residents, and have taken the matter up repeatedly with Kent Highways.

The difficulty has been identifying the root of the problem. Kent Highways recently replaced nine out of the twelve columns in this area, and it seemed quite possible that the failure of the street lights was related to this. However, there was also the possibility that the problem reflected a fault in the electricity supply from UK Power Networks (UKPN). Several visits took place from Kent Highways teams before the problem was definitively established last week as one that related to the UKPN supply.

I understand that a UKPN team was in the area yesterday afternoon and it is hoped that they will be able to revisit today to make a damaged cable in the area safe. This is not the cause of the lighting fault, but making it safe is necessary for other work to be undertaken. It is not possible to say how long it will take to fix the fault until its precise nature is diagnosed.

It is frustrating that it has taken us several weeks to get to this point, and it is still not clear exactly when the problem will be resolved. However, it is at least positive that UKPN are on site and I will provide an update as soon as I know more.

Crockenhill 20 mph consultation starts today

A 20 mph zone in the centre of Crockenhill - in particular in the approaches to the junction of Cray Road, Main Road and Broadway - is a central part of proposals to enhance road safety in the village. Plans for the 20 mph zone are now being brought forward, with a consultation that starts today.

The consultation can be found here on the KCC website. It will run for three weeks until 7 December.  Subject to there being few or no objections, and the contractor securing the road space from Kent Highways' road works team, we can hope to see the zone in place early in the New Year.

Crockenhill junction latest

Following on from my most recent post on the Main Rosd/ Cray Road/ Broadway junction project, there have been some further developments - albeit two steps forward and one back.

At a recent meeting of the Parish Council, we agreed the full scope of the 20 mph zone. This now allows for a traffic regulation order to be issued, which starts a three month process (hopefully slightly less) to get the zone established. Yellow lines have now been painted in the area around the entry to Broadway. I have committed to putting in gateway signs in the village, and have got this process underway through my Combined Member Fund.

However, the installation of granite sets is proving more problematic because of the need to work around various forms of utilities equipment in the area. I had hoped that these works could be carried out during this half term week, but this is now subject to significant delays. I will post again when the timing of this is clearer.

Nicky Morgan approves the Sevenoaks grammar annex

With KCC Leader Paul Carter at this morning's press conference

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan issued a Written Statement in Parliament this morning approving Weald of Kent's proposals for expansion through an annex on the former Wildernesse School site in Sevenoaks.

In her statement, the Secretary of State made clear that this is "a genuine expansion of the existing school", with full integration in terms of "leadership, management, governance, admissions and and curriculum?" The 3 Forms of Entry girls annex is proposed to open in September 2017.

The County Council has worked closely with Weald of Kent on this project, and has been committed to the concept of grammar provision in Sevenoaks since early 2012. KCC's role has included leading the call for partners schools to take forward the proposal for an annex, following the original County Council debate in March 2012; developing the evidence base of the need for new grammar provision in the area; funding the project; securing the site and reaching agreement with the government for it to be shared with Trinity Free School; and leading the building projects for both Trinity and the annex. We have also worked closely with Weald of Kent in setting out the case for the Sevenoaks annex to government. It has been important project for me, as both Education Cabinet Member and a Sevenoaks County Councillor.

For me, much of today has passed in media interviews; the interest, both locally and nationally has been intense. Throughout I have sought to convey a number of arguments:

• The Secretary of State has, quite rightly - even if this has sometimes been trying for local opinion, including ours - insisted that the most important thing was to get this decision right, and has been painstaking in determining that the proposal was for an annex, not a new school, and so was compliant with the law. We at KCC always believed this; it is good to see it confirmed
• This is the expansion of an Outstanding school, and one that has made great efforts to ensure that its proposal was robust. Weald of Kent already educates many girls from Sevenoaks and will add a lot to the education offer of the area
• As far as the County Council is concerned, the annex is a pragmatic response to a genuine issue. There is a Sevenoaks problem - it is an anomaly that an area that has so many children taking and passing the Kent Test has no grammar provision; there is also a West Kent problem, of growing pressure on secondary places (including grammar places). It is logical to seek to tackle both problems together

You can find KCC's response, including an interview clip from me, here.

Budget consultation: choices for tough tines

KCC has launched a six week consultation on its 2016-17 budget. The consultation will close on 24 November, one day before the government's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).

The County Council has delivered huge savings - £433 million over the last five years. However, further savings of some £80 million will be needed this year, and after delivering such large-scale economies in recent years, we now face difficult choices. The precise amount of savings needed cannot be determined in advance of the CSR and the subsequent local government financial settlement, but the general scale of the challenge facing us is clear. At the same time the County Council is proposing a moderate council tax increase of 1.99%.

Rising pressures on the budget, such as the need for social care services driven by demographic change, are the biggest factor driving the need for savings. This effect is exacerbated by anticipated further reductions in government grant.

You can find the consultation, which covers the proposed council tax increase and the value that residents put on different services, here.

KCC will publish its post-consultation budget proposals on 11 January and the budget will be out to County Council on 11 February.

Boundary change proposals: the effect on Darent Valley

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has over the last year or so been conducting a review of Kent County Council's electoral divisions. Today it issued revised proposals for the Sevenoaks District area.

The Boundary Commission proposes a modest reduction in the number of KCC Members, from the current 84 across Kent to 81. Sevenoaks, which has seen much smaller population growth than many other parts of the County, is set to reduce from 7 Members to 6.

Some of the implications of this for Darent Valley are fairly clear. To its north, the Swanley Division is relatively small and will need to expand. Since a Division cannot cross District or Borough lines, Swanley can only expand to the south, into the contiguous sections of Darent Valley.

Under the Boundary Commission's original proposals, published in May with a consultation that ran through until July, the whole of the Swanley Town Council area, as well as Hextable, would be taken into the Swanley Division. Darent Valley would therefore lose Swanley Christ Church, the High Firs area and Swanley Village. It would, however, expand to the south, taking in Otford and Dunton Green, while adding Knockholt and Halstead to Badgers Mount (the latter three together currently make up a District ward). The remainder of the Division - Shoreham (including Well Hill and East Hill), Eynsford, Farningham, Horton Kirby and South Darenth - would remain within it.

However, following initial consultation and a number of representations (including an alternative proposal from Sevenoaks District Council), the Boundary Commission has brought forward significantly revised proposals. Under these, while Swanley Christ Church and High Firs would still leave Darent Valley, Swanley Village would remain. Badgers Mount would leave the Division, joining Halstead and Knockholt in Sevenoaks West. To the south, Otford would still come into the Division but Dunton Green would not; however, Kemsing and Seal would come in. The new Division - rather cumbersomely named Sevenoaks East and Darent Valley - would be very large, running from the north of the District and the London boundary to the south-east of Sevenoaks town (which, in contrast to the Boundary Commission's earlier proposals, is the centre of one Division rather than being split between two - almost certainly a key factor in the adoption of new proposals). You can see a map of the proposed new Divisions here.

Sevenoaks was the only District in the County for which the Boundary Commission's original proposals were amended; these are now subject to a stand alone consultation. This closes on 26 October and the final recommendations will be published on 19 January 2016.

Further A225 works from 21 October

Last year we saw resurfacing work on the A225 in Eynsford,  running north from the Baptist church to the junction with Mill Lane.  The works were very welcome, though their timing - on the eve of the Kent Test - was much less so.

Kent Highways has committed to carrying out further works running north towards Farningham, from Mill Lane up to the Bessfield Lane junction. A notice has been issued and the works will start on 21 October. They will be carried out overnight (between 22:00 and 05:00), and will last for three days.  During that time there will be a road closure in the area affected, though only for the overnight period when the works are taking place; the road will remain open during the day. There may also be some disruption from the "milling" (an operation  to remove the existing road surface), and from the noise of vehicles beeping as they reverse. However, Kent Highways have pledged to seek to keep keep disruption to a minimum.

This will be a very welcome improvement to the road. Some particularly severe damage to the surface has already been dealt with through temporary patching.

Street lighting consultation: give your views

KCC continues to make progress in its procurement of LED lighting for the 118,000 street lights that it is responsible for across the County. This should deliver annual savings of £5.2 million. Coupled with lower costs, the new LED lighting will bring with it a Central Management System, which will allow for greater flexibility in dimming lights and in varying times when lights are turned on and off.

This represents an opportunity to gather residents' opinions on the system of part-night lighting that was introduced in Sevenoaks District at the start of a County-wide roll-out in late 2013. The County Council therefore launched yesterday a 10-week consultation on whether residents want to continue with part-night lighting or go back to having lights on all night. The results of the consultation should allow for a varied approach across different areas. This makes sense; in many urban areas (such as Swanley within Darent Valley), residents were very concerned about street lights being turned off at night, whereas in many rural areas there may be a very different view.

The consultation runs until 29 November. You can find KCC's press release here, and the consultation itself here. I hope as many Darent Valley residents as possible take part.

More good news on local schools

As we approach the start of the new term, there is more encouraging news about local schools that was released over the holiday period.

Anthony Roper Primary School in Eynsford had its Ofsted inspection in early July. The inspectors' report - released after the school had broken up for the summer holiday - rated ARPS as Good. The school already had a Good rating, though that dates back to 2010, with a different head and a very different inspection regime. The report painted a favourable picture across the board - in pupils' learning, behaviour, the school's teaching, leadership and management - which does credit to Lynda Newton and her staff. Ofsted described the school as

• "a cohesive, orderly and purposeful community in which good teaching is the norm and high standards of behaviour are expected and are met by pupils."
  

Earlier in the year, Crockenhill Primary School under the leadership of Sarah Warshow also retained its Good rating. As previously noted, schools in the Darent Valley with weaker ratings have seen strong improvements. Now only St. Paul's in Swanley Village has a Requires Improvement rating, and that school is showing strong positive momentum.

Coupled with good Key Stage 2 performance across the County, and strong County-wide improvements in Ofsted ratings, especially for primary schools, this means that local schools should return this week with the wind in their sails.

United House

Over the last ten days, Swanley residents have been very much affected by the unauthorised encampment of a traveller group on the United House site. There were strong local concerns about the security of homes and of High Firs school.

The latter issue very much drew me in, as both local County Councillor and with my Education responsibilities. As soon as I was aware of the situation, I contacted KCC's Property team, who arranged for security cover for the school. There had been some break-ins to the school before this was put in place, but it did ensure that the site was secure from last Sunday onwards and much of what was apparently taken from the school appears to have been retrieved.

The owners of the United House site went to court for an Interim Possession Order (IPO), which the court granted them on Wednesday. This gave the travellers until 12:15 yesterday to leave; they did so late yesterday, with the police providing strong support to the bailiffs to ensure that this took place.

At local residents' request, I convened and chaired a meeting between the acting Chief Inspector,  and local residents in Swanley Town Council this morning. Town councillors, town council staff and the deputy head of the school were also present. This gave an opportunity to review all that had happened, and there was agreement to look at ensuring the best possible communication between the police (as well as councils) and local residents, while maintaining the police role as impartial upholders of the law.

All this has meant a great deal of anxiety and uncertainty for local people, as well as for the school staff, whose summer break has been significantly disrupted, and who put a lot of time and energy into ensuring that the school was secure. However, with the illegal encampment ended, hopefully those anxieties can now ease. The site itself, of course, remains the subject of a major planning application at Sevenoaks District Council, albeit one that is, I understand, in the process of revision.

Crockenhill junction project: some big steps forward

The project to enhance safety at the central junction in Crockenhill - where Cray Road, Main Road and Broadway meet - has proved complex and difficult to complete. Quite a lot of progress has been made, notably through the installation of high friction surfacing and an interactive sign. Extra and improved signs and lines have gone in on the hill coming down from Green Court Road into Broadway, along with safety fencing by the green. There has also been a speed and traffic survey in the area, and additional yellow lines are due to be painted.

The big difficulty, as I reported to the annual Parish meeting in the spring, concerns the installation of additional traffic calming and the road closures that this would entail. The Parish Council has long been concerned about the impact of road closures, especially on Green Court Road (which would entail long detours round Crockenhill and Swanley). However, since the annual Parish meeting, there has been a growing view within the village and the Parish Council that some closures are a price worth paying for better control of speeds within the village.

Following a site meeting and further discussions with the Parish Council, we now have a clear way forward. A 20 mph zone will be established in the approaches to the junction; Traffic Regulation Orders to implement this are under way, starting a three month process. I will pay (from my Combined Member Fund) for a series of small granite sets, which use a relatively quick-setting German technology to reduce the length of the road closure needed, that will act as a further reminder to drivers to slow as they approach the junction. The October half term looks to be a likely installation date.

The one outstanding issue is the possible addition of village gateway signs. This will be reviewed when we have a clear picture on the cost of the project that has been agreed, and whether this leaves anything over from what has already been committed in my Combined Member Fund.

Gateway signs for Badgers Mount

An important part of the safety measures proposed for Badgers Mount following a fatal accident in 2012 has been the installation of gateway signs in the Orpington by-pass and Old London Road. This finally took place earlier this month, paid for from my Combined Member Fund.

Much of the safety plan has now been delivered, such as the reduced speed limit on the Orpington by-pass. There are still elements to be followed up, notably the proposal for a footpath alongside the Orpington by-pass which has still to secure Local Transport Plan funding. And residents will quite righty be concerned by those who do not follow the new, lower speed limits. 

Nonetheless, this is a welcome step forward.

Eynsford works: the next test

Plans to ease the congestion around Anthony Roper Prinary School in Eynsford include proposals - which I would pay for from my Member Fund - to extend the yellow lines in the village and to create bays in the road outside Fernbank. These plans have been on the stocks for a long time, and I had hoped that by now we would have been out to consultation.

However, initial surveys threw up a potential problem of BT services being under the pavement; most critically, there might be a cable there. The cost of moving this could be prohibitive, raising questions about the whole scheme, at least in its current form.

Kent Highways (with BT representatives present) will drill some trial holes to test for what is under the pavement. These works will take place next Sunday, 7 June. Residents have been notified. Hopefully we should know soon if it is possible for the scheme to proceed.

Road closure for works in Daltons Road

Daltons Road in Crockenhill has had a series of problems of erosion of the edges of the road, leaving a potentially dangerous dip down into the neighbouring field.

Some time ago, I supported from my Member Fund the installation of some bollards in the worst affected area. Now another section of erosion has opened up. However, Kent Highways have responded quickly to the issue being raised by residents and by Crcokenhill Parish Council. I was able to tell the Parish Council late last week that works are due to take place starting tomorrow (19 May). This will require a road closure, which is likely to last for a couple of days.

Shoreham Village School goes straight to Good

OFSTED has published its report on its most recent visit to Shoreham Village School and it makes for very happy reading.

The school was previously inspected in November last year and found to be making progress towards the removal of Special Measures. It has now gone straight to a Good rating, bypassing entirely the Requires Improvement rating.

While it is not completely unheard of for a school to make such rapid progress while coming out of Special Measures, it is most unusual. The Ofsted visit started as a Section 8 monitoring exercise (which reviews the progress of a school in Special Measures) but morphed into a full inspection as it became apparent to Ofsted that Special Messures were no longer applicable.

The report is also comprehensively favourable, with a Good rating in all areas. This is a great tribute to pupils, staff and governors, and to the galvanising impact of Gillian Lovatt-Young as head teacher. Ofsted says that "her uncompromising drive to raise standards, coupled with good quality training and development for staff, has brought about rapid improvements in teaching and achievement."

As I mentioned before, I was very encouraged by all that I saw on my last visit to the school late last year - it is good to see that the school has made such remarkable progress, to the benefit not only of staff, children and families, but also of the village.

Losing the 403 bus

The 403 bus, run by Arriva as a commercial service (i.e. with no subsidy from KCC), ceased to run north of Sevenoaks at the end of last week (the more southerly Tunbridge Wells to Sevenoaks route will continue to run). This provided a service up to Swanley, Dartford and Bluewater for communities in the Darent Valley such as Shoreham and Eynsford. However, Arriva concluded that the more northerly part of the route was insufficiently used and was not viable.

The 421 Go Coach service, which is a KCC subsidised service, continues to run from Sevenoaks, up through Darent Valley communities such as Oftord (not part of my division, thought very much part of the Darent Valley), Shoreham, Eynsford and Farningham to Swanley - and of course back. However, this runs only four times a day each way, ceasing by the mid-afternoon.

The end of the 403 is a clear loss of service to residents. I have discussed with Kent Highways as to whether there are any options for enhacing the subsidised service, whether it is the 421 or looking again at the 478 (now being run by Nu Venture, who have just taken it on), which used to serve Eynsford but does not do so at present. There are no immediate obvious options; at its simplest, the subsidised bus budget is limited and will not be increasing any time soon, so what would be effectively an addition to subsidised services is not easy to support or fund. Nonetheless, I will continue to search for possible ways to tackle this new and unwelcome development. I will post an update if there is further news.

Farningham Hill and other works

There are several favourable developments to report around Eynsford and Farningham. 

In the last few days resurfacing work has been under way on the A20 at Farningham Hill. The works stretch from close to the roundabout at the M25 junction to near the junction with London Road. They are much-needed but represent a major commitment by Kent Highways; it was a significant achievement on the part of our local Highways team to secure this at a time of severe competition for limited resources. The works should conclude on Monday.

Secondly, Kent Highways have committed to following up last year's resurfacing in the High Street in Eynsford by tackling the problems further north between Eynsford and Farningham. This resurfacing work should take place in the late summer or early autumn.

Finally, patching will take place to tackle the serious potholes in Bower Lane from 4 May, requiring a road closure for up to six days. This should be followed by surface dressing in 2016.

Shoreham traffic issues: looking for ways forward

Last week I chaired a meeting, organised by the Shoreham Society and with strong involvement from the Parish Council, on traffic issues in the village. There are long-running concerns about on-street parking and consequent blockage of roads at the heart of the village - especially High Street and parts of Church Street - and a number of key issues and actions were identified during a walk of the village in 2012. These also included a lack of clear identification to drivers at the edge of the village that they are coming into a residential environment.

It has been possible to take action in response to some of these issues. We have run speed and traffic checks at various points in the village, yielding valuable information (broadly speaking - and unsurprisingly - traffic speeds at the edges of the village are at higher levels than would enable a 20 mph zone to be implemented, but they are much lower in the High Street). While full village gateways were eventually rejected, red high friction surfacing and road markings were introduced at the approaches to the village.

Not all the traffic issues come within the County Council's remit; some will, for example, require action by the Parish Council. However, a number of potential ways forward were identified at the meeting:

• I will pursue actively the possibilities for a footpath to the station. This was in any case on my list of projects for consideration, though awaiting adequate money becoming available within my Combined Member Fund

• I will pursue the possibilities of a limited 20 mph zone within the heart of the village

• The Parish Council to continue to examine sites for extra parking, including controversial possibilities such as land near the allotments

• There was strong interest in strategic use of yellow lines to create passing places in Church Street and High Street. There was also renewed support for looking at yellow lines around the George bend. (Any yellow lines that are implemented will have to be of a design compatible with a conservation area; on which subject, Kent Highways have promised me to tackle the long-running 'wrong sort of yellow lines' at Crown Road).

It was a very productive meeting. Doubtless, as proposals are brought forward, there will be less consensus and harmony than was then apparent. But it gives us quite a lot to work with.

Bower Lane potholes

I have to declare an interest on this one, since I am a fairly frequent user of Bower Lane, but the potholes in the road are a significant problem for local residents, and have been for a while. There are a number of concentrations of problems, especially towards the East Hill end of the road.

Speaking to Kent Highways officers today, I understand that works will be carried out to tackle the problem as part of the spring assault on potholes. It is likely to be a quite costly and demanding job, with some need for a road closure. This work will have to wait for better weather and the best timing for a closure, so in the interim we are likely to see some patching as a very short-term fix. Good news nonetheless.

More encouraging news from local schools

In the latter part of last year, I visited six of the seven schools (all primary schools) in Darent Valley. At that time, High Firs had recently improved its Ofsted rating from 'Requires Improvement' to 'Good', while just before Christmas Shoreham Village School (which fell into Special Measures in late 2013) had a remarkably encouraging Ofsted monitoring report.

I also expressed the hope that Horton Kirby was on its way to achieving a 'Good' rating in its next Ofsted inspection. That inspection took place last month, and the school was indeed rated 'Good', with a strongly favourable Ofsted report. Congratulations are due to head teacher Glenn Pollard, governors, staff and pupils for a great result.

I recently visited the one local school that I had missed out in the autumn, St. Paul's Church of England Primary School in Swanley Village. The school, previously rated 'Good', fell to 'Requires Improvement' early last year and was under interim leadership last autumn. The new head, Anne Costidell, arrived at the start of the New Year; we met briefly at a KCC event to welcome new head teachers when she was days into the role, but it clearly made sense to leave a full visit until a little later. That took place at the end of last week, and both my conversation with the head and a tour of lively and bustling classrooms left me with a very favourable impression. There is good reason to believe that, in this local school too, we are seeing real progress. 

Report to Crockenhill Annual Parish Meeting

Thursday evening saw the Crockenhill Annual Parish meeting - a little earlier than its usual April date. As usual, I gave my report on the year's work.

One of the main topics I addressed was the ongoing effort to tackle speeding and safety issues in the heart of the village, in particular at the Broadway/Cray Road/Main Road junction. I have been working on a set of measures to be paid for from my Combined Member Fund.

High friction surfacing and an interactive sign were introduced back in spring 2013, and we have been seeking to put in additional measures since then. However, the difficulty has been that many of the possible measures would require road closures that would cause unacceptable disruption to the village. In particular, this would apply to the sort of measures needed to support a 20mph zone, which villagers and parish councillors would very much like to see.

So, despite a lot of work involving the parish council, Kent Highways and me, it has been a somewhat frustrating year. However, having undertaken speed surveys in the area, we are now looking at a range of measures that would include changes to parking and use of so-called 'virtual humps', as well as village signs. There are still some details to be agreed, but we are now close to being able to take these forward. In particular, it should be possibke to go straight out to consultation on the proposed yellow lines.

In addition, there were messures to tackle speeding as traffic comes down to Broadway from Green Court Road that do not require a road closure, including safety fencing by the village green to highlight that pedestrians are approaching a road crossing. This was – after a number of contractor delays – installed around the turn of the year, with a wobbly post set to be fixed during the last few days.

Additional works for which orders have been raised and which should be carried out in the near future include a SLOW sign in the road, improvements to signage and a refreshing of lines in the road around the junction.

Salt bin for New Road

A long-running saga has finally come to a satisfactory end. I reported over a year ago that I hoped to install a second salt bin, paid for from my Combined Member Fund, in New Road, South Darenth. I had already had one installed near The Queen pub, which is certainly useful for the middle to higher sections of the road. However, the lower sections approaching the Horton Road junction were not covered by this, and residents had quite rightly raised the issue.

The difficulty was finding a site where the bin would not block a pavement, and last year a Highways engineer and I visited and agreed that we would try to install an older, smaller bin in a passageway leading off the northern side of the road. However, the installation did not take place and it emerged that we no longer have the smaller bins that could fit on the site without creating an obstruction. Since some of our Highways staff had changed in the meantime, there was a certain amount of revisiting the issue needed to that New Road needed two salt bins rather than just the one.

One of our Highways officers came up with the creative suggestion of approaching H&V Building Services to ask their agreement to install the bin at the front of their premises. I am very grateful to H&V for agreeing to this.

So, as the picture shows, the bin is now installed - at the tail end of this winter, but now there for future cold spells.

Visit to the Swanley Gateway site

(L-R): Sue Meads (KCC); Cllr. Tony Searles, Swanley TC; me; Gavin Ernest  (gdm Architects);  Paul Kemp (Mears)

This week I had a chance to visit the site of Swanley Library, undergoing its tranformation into the Swanley Gateway. I was accompanied by Tony Searles, leader of Swanley Town Council, who has long played a key role in the project; architect Gavin Ernest of gdm Architects; KCC officers and staff from the contractor Mears.

The Gateway site lies just outside my Darent Valley Division (the boundary with the Swanley Division is essentially along the railway line), but the project is of considerable importance to many of my constituents. I also had extensive involvement in earlier plans and discussions about the project in my previous Cabinet role, which included responsibility for property.

Image courtesy of Portsdown

The project involves an extensive refurbishment and demolition of the interior walls. As the plan (pictured) shows, the ground floor will have an extensive open library space and cafe. The Post Office and KCC Social Services will be found to the rear of the ground floor. Job Centre Plus will have desks on the ground floor (JCP's only on the ground presence in Sevenoaks District), while KCC Registrar services, the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Swanley Volunteer Centre and others from the voluntary and community sector will also have desks. Perhaps most importantly, West Kent Housing will have a major presence in the Gateway, including offices on the first floor. As before, the building will be used by the Member of Parliament for surgeries.

The Gateway should succeed in its aim of delivering a one stop shop and community hub for Swanley in a new, more comfortable and energy efficient building. Architect, contractors and council staff are very committed to its successful delivery. The next major public stage will be the setting up of a mobile Gateway exhibition for a few days (28-30 March) in the square byAsda to give residents a taste of how the Gateway will operate. It will also give residents a chance to vote for a name for the new Gateway. The building itself is scheduled to open in the summer.

Oasis Academy Hextable to close

Oasis Academy in Hextable has announced that it is due to close. Current Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 students will be offered places at alternative schools. No new Year 7 will join the school in September but current Year 10 and Year 12 students will remain at the school to complete their studies. The school will finally close in summer 2016.

Clearly this is a worrying and distressing development for students and their families, as well as for teachers and other staff. Many of the families affected live in my colleague Robert Brookbank's Swanley Division, but there are certainly also Darent Valley constituents of mine (chiefly from Swanley) with children at the school. In any case, as KCC Cabinet Member for Education, I have been very much involved in discussions about the prospective closure and was interviewed about it by Dominic King on BBC Radio Kent drive time yesterday.

Since Hextable is an academy, the decision for closure was not for the County Council; the proposal came from Oasis, the academy sponsor, and was ultimately agreed by government ministers. The County Council was, however, involved in discussions on the proposal, not least because we have the responsibility to ensure that students displaced by the closure are found new places.

We opposed the initial closure proposal, not least because we expect the population of secondary school students to grow strongly in North West Kent in the coming years. However, the school was certainly operating far below capacity and faced the prospect of relatively large numbers of students leaving in the next couple of years while current Years 7 and 8 are much smaller groups. The pressures faced by Oasis are in part a reflection of the current school funding system, introduced in 2013, under which more than 90% of a school's funding reflects its number of pupils on roll. Add to this the current dip - soon to be reversed - in secondary school numbers, and any school which finds it hard to attract pupils can find itself very vulnerable. We understood the pressures Oasis faced, but remain very concerned about the need to ensure adequate secondary places in the future. In any case, the Department for Education approved the closure proposal.

KCC's role is to secure places for the 150 or so students currently in Years 7 - 9. Letters offering a new school place will go out at the start of next week, and should arrive with families on Tuesday. We have had extensive discussions with local secondary schools, as well as with neighbouring education authorities. Orchards Academy, Wilmington Academy, Ebbsfleet Academy and Dartford Science and Technology College are among the schools likely to offer the largest number of places.

For current Year 6 pupils, preferences for Hextable have been removed from the system for primary offer day on 2 March. Parents who did express a preference for Hextable - and have therefore 'lost' one of their options - will be able to add in an extra preference at the time of the reallocation of places in the spring.

Longer-term, we will have to look to the need for secondary provision in the area. As with any academy that converted from being a community school, the academy trust leased the school buildings (on a 125 year lease) but the freehold of the land remains with the local authority. The Hextable site will therefore revert to KCC on then closure of the school next year.

Swanley Village high-friction surfacing installed

As noted in a previous post, the higher friction surfacing for the Gateway signs in Swanley Village was due to be installed today. I visited this afternoon and this has indeed taken place.

The gateway signs themselves were not painted on installation - a very odd omission. I took this up with Kent Highways, who told me that this would be rectified, as it was some days ago.

Regarding the village sign, the order for removing it for repainting is ready to go and we should be able to install a new, very satisfactory support for the repainted sign.

Pinks Hill bund to be installed

As part of the interim measures to ease the flooding risks to Pinks Hill, it was agreed last autumn that Kent Highways would install a bund on the open space across which much of the water flowed. This would protect some of the most exposed properties. 

These and other interim measures are designed to ease some of the more immediate problems while longer-term measures to address the problems of the lagoon are planned and undertaken.

At a November meeting of Swanley Town Council - which owns the open space - councillors agreed that the bund could sited on their land. Since then, however, there have been delays in its installation. These are apparently caused by an absence of recyclable material to be used in the bund. 

However, I now understand that the work is set to be carried out in the very near future - either tomorrow or early next week. The gang who will work on it are currently completing a project in Edgar Close and should then move over to work on the Pinks Hill bund.

Connect Plus carried out de-silting works on the lagoon before Christmas and these resulted in an immediate drop in water levels of 1.5 metres. It seems that this has had a positive effect over recent weeks, and in addition we have fortunately not seen the rainfall levels of twelve months ago. Nonetheless, installation of the bund should represent a very welcome development.

Swanley Village: progress by stages

A number of Highways projects are being carried out in Swanley Village with support from my Member Highway Fund (now the Combined Member Fund). Progress is being made, albeit on a piecemeal basis.

High-friction surfacing is set to be installed as part of the establishment of gateways at the entry points to the village. It was originally intended that these would be installed before Christmas, but this was deferred until the February half term. It has now been confirmed that this will take place on Monday 16 February, and will involve a very short road closure (lasting about an hour).

Gateway signs were installed before Christmas, but appear not to have been painted. Residents have understandably questioned this; I have duly taken up the issue, and this has produced some head scratching at Kent Highways, since the signs should have been painted in a similar fashion to those seen in other villages. Officers are looking into this and hopefully it should be rectified soon.

Finally, we seem to be close to a point where we can move ahead in securing the village sign. I hope to confirm the precise status of this with officers  next week.

KCC moves ahead with LED lighting

Kent County Council plans to invest some £40 m to convert its street lights to LED (light emitting diode) technology, delivering huge cost and energy savings while offering the prospect of restoring full-night lighting in residential areas. This will be the biggest conversion scheme of its kind in the country.

The council has secured low-cost financing and will go out to procurement for delivery of the lighting. Subject to this process being completed satisfactorily, installation could start late this year or in early 2016. The initial focus will be on installation in residential areas.

Installing LED should deliver savings of 60% on KCC's highways lighting bills, enabling full-night lighting to be restored. This is a very welcome development; a number of constituents, especially in Swanley, have been strongly opposed to the part-night lighting that was instituted at the end of 2013. The County Council has argued that it had to deliver both cost and carbon savings. If LED is installed successfully, it should enable savings to be delivered and residents' concerns to be met.

You can find an article on this from the KCC media hub here.