Consultation on Preston Hill and Country Parks Strategy in 2017

As I reported earlier this year, Kent County Council had considered a number of smaller Country Park sites, among them Preston Hill, for disposal. However, this was quickly - and rightly - reconsidered. In addition, the sites, which had been transferred to KCC's Property Division, came back to the Country Parks team.

The County Council will be consulting in the New Year on its renewed strategy for country parks. As part of this, it has written to anyone who expressed a view on the future of these smaller sites, asking them to contribute to the consultation. This will include any suggestions about the future of specific sites. Letters have also been sent to Parish Councils.

The letter states that groups such as wildlife charities have expressed an interest in becoming more involved in the running of the sites, which is very welcome. They will, however, remain under the overall stewardship of the County Council.

JTB approves schemes for Crockenhill and Eynsford

The Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board, of which I am a member, met on Tuesday evening. Among the items on the agenda were two schemes that I am supporting through my Combined Member Fund. They are:

• In Crockenhill, double yellow lines on Green Court Road, running north east from the junction with Stones Cross Road
• In Eynsford, on the A225 High Street near the Anthony Roper Primary School, restrictions during school run times outside Alton Cottages, and ashort extension of the double yellow line is near the Priory Lane  junction

You can find the meeting papers here; the two schemes are reported under agenda item 8. The report summarised the outcome of consultations on the two schemes. There were only two objections to the Eynsford proposal, and none to the Crockenhill proposal. Both schemes were therefore approved, and should proceed in the near future -  which should be very good news for both villages. 

Trial rumble strips in Crockenhill

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Kent Highways, Crockenhill Parish Council and I agreed at a site meeting in October to carry out a trial installation of rumble strips approaching the Cray Road/ Main Road/ Broadway junction. These will be tested out to see whether or not they provide a suitable alternative to granite sets as part of the safety measures in the centre of the village.

The trial strips have now been installed; residents are asked to send comments to the Parish Council or to me. A decision on how to proceed will be taken early in the New Year.

There should be more news on road safety measures soon, since yellow line schemes in Eynsford and Crockenhill are going to the Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board tomorrow evening. I will report back.

Still time to respond to KCC budget consultation

With the Chancellor giving his Autumn statement next week, there is still time for residents to respond to Kent County Council's consultation on its budget for 2017-18. The consultation, launched five weeks ago, closes on 27 November.

Like many other councils, KCC has been under severe financial pressure for quite a number of years, chiefly because of sharp reductions in government grant at a time when areas such as social care for the elderly have increasing need. It is quite a thought that KCC has delivered savings of £514 million – more than half a billion pounds – since 2010.

For 2017-18, the Council faces a financial gap of £108 million. It is - reluctantly - proposing an increase in council tax of 3.99% (including a 2% ‘precept’ for social care), but even after this has to deliver savings of £80.4 million. Our consultation focuses on how to deliver this; so far around £75 million has been identified and proposed.

You can respond to the consultation here.

Community Wardens for the villages

When Steve Armstrong, the highly-regarded Community Warden for Crockenhill, Eynsford and Farningham retired earlier this year, the County Council committed to finding a replacement as soon as possible. At the same time, it was recognised that the recruitment needed to be undertaken along with a number of other appointments to the Warden service. Until this took place, other Wardens covering the Sevenoaks area would serve the three villages on a rotational basis.

This recruitment round has now taken place. All the advertised posts were filled; however, the person appointed to Crockenhill, Eynsford and Farningham had to withdraw at a late stage. It has therefore, regrettably, not been possible to fill the post at present. However, Paul Sharrad, the new Warden for Swanley, will now also cover Crockenhill (as well as Swanley Village and Hextable) as and when required. Similarly, Paul Robertson – who is very well-known in Darent Valley as the Warden for Shoreham, as well as covering Otford - will cover Eynsford and Farningham when required. Thus all the villages should get more frequent and more personal coverage than has been the case since Steve’s retirement.

KCC hopes to fill the vacancy in the next recruitment round. However, the interim solution proposed by the Service should provide a valuable enhancement to the Warden presence in the three villages.

Eynsford and Crockenhill proposals out for consultation

A consultation has just started to install parking restrictions in Eynsford (on the A225 near the school) and Crockenhill (on Green Court Road). They are being carried out by Sevenoaks District Council on behalf of the County Council, and, if the schemes are approved and taken forward, they will be paid for from my Member Fund for schemes in the local area.

The Eynsford proposals have been in development for some time. The philosophy has always been to try to increase opportunities to park safely in some locations while increasing some restrictions. There have been delays to bringing forward the yellow lines and other proposals; for example, a scheme was ready to go to consultation over a year ago when it became clear that the presence of BT cables and other utilities would make some of its proposals prohibitively expensive.

Single yellow lines (operating between 8:30 and 9:30, and between 3 and 4) are proposed in front of Alton Cottages, with the aim of easing the parking bottlenecks in the area to the north east of the school. In addition, all day restrictions (double yellow lines) are proposed for the corners of Mill Lane and Priory Lane. Quite separately from this consultation, some further measures will be brought forward to create gaps in parking further to the south west in High Street.

The Crockenhill proposals are for double yellow lines running north east along Green Court Road from the junction with Stones Cross Road, aiming to tackle dangerous parking in the area, particularly at school times.

The consultation runs until 4 November. You can find details of both proposals and how you can respond on the District Council's website under the Public Notices section. The results of the consultation will then be reported to the Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board (a meeting of County and District Councillors for the area) for a decision in December.

Crockenhill safety measures: the next steps

A lot of measures have been brought in over the last few years to enhance safety in the centre of the village, especially in the approaches to the junction of Cray Road, Broadway and Main Road. Signs, roundels, high friction surfacing and the speed activated sign in Cray Road have all been installed, along with the 20mph zone. I have supported this from my Combined Member Fund.

The Parish Council, Kent Highways and I have worked over many years to complete these measures by some sort of physical features in the road on the same approaches to the central junction. This has proved a long and difficult task, in particular because of the prospect of significant road closures needed to implement the works, and subsequently the presence of utilities under the highway that make implementing measures such as granite sets more difficult and more expensive.

We met recently to review the options and agreed that, while granite sets may well  be a good option for Crockenhill, it is worth trialling rumble strips, which can bep implemented more quickly, as an alternative. The proposed strips would come in three stages (one strip in the road, then two, then three). They would be in the three approaches to the centre, though the initial trial would cover just one area (Green Court Road).

Subject to a suitable design, this trial rumble strip should be installed in the coming weeks (November at the latest). Please let the Parish Council (crockenhillpc@btinternet.com) and me (roger.gough@kent.gov.uk) know what your early impressions are of how effective it is, and whether there are severe side effects such as increased noise. We will then review this with Kent Highways early in the New Year and decide whether it is best to install the remaining two rumble strips or go ahead with granite sets. In any case, Kent Highways will – weather permitting – move quickly to install the preferred option once it is decided.

This is, I hope, a positive development that should enable us to move forward with something that has long been wanted in the village and which complements the other measures that have been taken. At the same meeting, I am pleased to report, we made good progress on plans for gateway signs for the village and on replacements for the damaged railings at the Anchor & Hope site.

Latest on the pothole blitz

Kent Highways' annual pothole blitz, with a budget of £3 million, was launched in June. You can check progress, both across the County and by District, here.

The latest figures show:

- Across Kent, with 5,372 miles of road, £1.4m has been spent on completed works; the comparable figures for Sevenoaks District are 492 miles of road and £166,153 spent

- Across Kent, 1,079 single potholes have been fixed; for Sevenoaks, the figure is 292

- Across Kent, 39,115 square metres of multiple potholes and larger repairs have been undertaken; in Sevenoaks, 5,197 square metres (these latter figures are for potholes greater than a square metre in size and more than 200mm deep, or where there are multiple defects)

There has clearly been quite a lot of progress, though still scope for a lot more to be done, and Sevvenoaks seems to be somewhat ahead of its pro rata share, as was the case when I reported last. Kent Highways has written to Parish Councils to report on progress and to ask for feedback on where significant problems have not yet been tackled. In addition, any of us can report a pothole here.

Downsview keeps its Good rating

Downsview Primary School in Swanley has been rated Good by OFSTED since March 2012. The school had a short inspection (under OFSTED's new framework of inspections) in July. The resulting Inspector's letter to head teacher Duncan Edwards, confirming the school's continuing Good rating, has now been published.

The letter makes very encouraging reading. It speaks of a "continually improving school [which] does a great job for its pupils." It praises Duncan Edwards' leadership and that of his senior team, the school's teachers, and the role of governors and (I am glad to see) the local authority. It speaks of an environment that is nurturing but also develops its pupils academically (though this is, as the report notes, not yet fully reflected in Key Stage 2 results). Pupil Premium is spent effectively, ensuring that pupils who are supported by it do well. Those with Special Educational Needs do well.

As I noted a few months ago, all the schools in the Darent Valley Division are now rated Good. Downsview, notwithstanding drawing from some of the less affluent parts of the Division, has held that rating for longer than many.  It is nonetheless heatening to see this maintained, and in such decisive fashion. The head, governors, staff and pupils how to be  congratulated on this excellent result.

Under way for the Sevenoaks grammar annex

Lunchtime today saw the official start of works on the Sevenoaks grammar annex (though the contractors, Willmott Dixon, are already on site). I joined KCC Leader Paul Carter, Weald of Kent Grammar School Head Maureen Johnson, Governors, key staff members from both the school and the Council who had played important roles in bringing the project forward and Willmott Dixon staff for a tree planting that marked this key milestone in the project. As Paul Carter pointed out, the timing was striking, coming on the same day as Theresa May's speech on education.

Work is now moving ahead for the annex to open in September 2017. In a year's time, it is to be hoped, Sevenoaks will have three strong secondary education providers: the Knole Academy; Trinity Free School; and the Weald of Kent annex, which will share the former Wildernesse School site with Trinity. On this very heartening day, it was good also to see Trinity in their excellent new buildings, constructed by Willmott Dixon under the overall site project managed by KCC.

Launching the new 429 service

I was in Swanley earlier today to attend the launch of Go-Coach's new and improved 429 bus service.   Councillors and officers from the County, District and Town Councils joined Go-Coach staff and residents at the formal launch of the new service, which started running on Tuesday.

The new 429 supersedes both the earlier service under that number and the previous 478 service. Starting in West Kingsdown, the service runs through Farningham and Swanley in my Darent Valley Division before heading up through other parts of Swanley, Wilmington and Dartford. It will offer, among other things, very good access to a number of secondary schools in the area.

David Brazier, County Councillor for Sevenoaks North East, has provided support for the West Kingsdown part of the service, while the Sunday service (which runs from West Kingsdown to Darent Valley hospital and Bluewater, taking in Eynsford, Farningham and Swanley) has had support for some years from County Councillor Ann Allen (Wilmington), the late Councillor Robert Brookbank and me. For all of us, this has come from our Combined Member Funds.

The more southerly-facing Go-Coach services, such as the various 409 services and the 421 are currently unchanged, though Go-Coach continues to examine its services to schools and the town of Sevenoaks to see if there is scope for enhancement.

Wanted: a new Community Warden

When Steve Armstrong, the popular Community Warden for Crockenhill, Eynsford and Farningham, retired earlier this year, there was concern in the villages that he had served that there would not be an immediate replacement for him.

At the time, KCC's Community Warden Service made clear that, because recruitment, and in particular training is done in batches, there could not be an immediate replacement; however, they undertook to make clear as soon as possible when it would be possible to recruit.

The Service has now placed advertisements for posts in a number of areas in Kent, and in particular for two vacancies within the Sevenoaks District. This should, if there is a successful recruitment, enable posts to be filled in areas that previously had a Warden, of which Crockenhill, Eynsford and Farningham is one. 

Applications for the post should be in by 1 September, with interviews taking place in the middle of the month. Successful candidates will begin their four week training on 24 October, so hopefully a new Warden should be in place before the end of the year.

Councillor Robert Brookbank

I was very sad to hear earlier this week of the death of my colleague and neighbouring County Councillor, Robert Brookbank.

Robert was elected to represent Swanley in 2009 (having been unlucky to miss election narrowly in 2005), and, in a very personal victory, re-elected in 2013. All County Councillors - so long as they are doing their job - have a strong link to the Division they represent. Some, however, are particularly associated with an area. This is true, for example, of our current County Council Chairman, Tom Gates, who is 'Mr Faversham'. And it was true of Robert, who was very much a representative of Swanley. He sat also on the Town and District Councils, and was a strong and knowledgeable representative of the town at County Hall.

In addition, he chaired the County Council's Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC), winning respect from council and NHS colleagues alike. Increasingly, he had to battle his own ill-health, but continued to contribute.

Robert was dedicated to Swanley and to Kent. He knew local government well from long experience, including his previous career working for the GLC. He was wise and knowledgeable; I, and many others, will miss him.

Swanley verges and Kent Highways

Many constituents from Swaney have contacted me since early summer about the state of grass verges in the town. There is widespread concern that the town looks messier than before, affecting pride in the area - think of Swanley in Bloom - and residents' amenity. Much (though not all) of this relates to highway verges, and so residents have come to Kent Highways and to me.

For quite some time, Swanley Town Council undertook grass cutting not only for its own spaces but (under contract) for KCC/ Kent Highways and Sevenoaks District Council as well. Back in the spring, the Town Council felt that it was unable to continue this and, for example, the work on highway verges came back to Kent Highways. There is no doubt that the Town Council undertook more cuts than are specified in the regular Kent Highways schedule; they also extended their cuts beyond Kent Highways verges. Add in the growing conditions of a wet spring and early summer, and this explains some of what has happened.

Last week I arranged to meet our local head of soft landscaping and a leading local resident to look around many of the areas of particular concern, especially in the High Firs estate and around Goldsel Road. The picture that we got from this was quite a mixed one. Some unmown verges (for example, between Goldsel Road and Lila Place) belong not to KCC but to the developers of the site. Some were private property; where shrubs obstruct a highway or footpath, Kent Highways will ask the owner to cut them back. We also identified some areas - such as a verge near the top of Pinks Hill, and an overgrown area of shrubs and trees in Station Road - that either are or appear to be in KCC ownership and will be added to the list to be cut back. Another area in Pinks Hill, which has recently been cut, is clearly under the Town Council's ownership.

Early last week also saw one of the eight scheduled 'urban cuts' for verges through the town. Some of those on the edges of town (in London Road, approaching the M25 junction) were not cut and the grass there is high. These, however, are on a different schedule, that for 'visibility splays', which are cut three times a year (and should be followed up this week).

All told, this was a useful visit and established the areas in which Kent Highways can and will take action, and those that are others' responsibility (though as local Member I am always happy to take these matters up with owners, even if it is not something that is KCC's direct responsibility). It is a situation that I will continue to monitor and residents are more than welcome to contact me if they have continuing concerns.

 

Kent's pothole blitz getting under way

As previously reported, Kent Highways' pothole campaign was launched in June, with £3 million in funding (including £1.4 million of government grant that was announced relatively recently) behind it. The aim has been to mobilise quickly and efficiently using local contractors.

The contract has now been in effect for 4 weeks. More than £500,000 in expenditure has been programmed, in addition to more than £358,000 that has been spent on already completed works. Of the latter, almost £50,000 has been in Sevenoaks District, while its share of programmed works exceeds £100,000. As before, do report a pothole via the KCC website - or, of course, to your County Councillor.

St. Paul's Swanley Village goes to Good

St Paul's Church of England Primary School in Swanley Village was inspected by Ofsted in May. The report has just been released, and the school's rating has been upgraded from Requires Improvement to Good.

In their report, the inspectors considered the school to be Good in all categories. They considered the quality of teaching and learning to be "much improved since the last inspection." They also complimented the role of the new head of school, Mrs Grasby, who "has acted swiftly to continue the improvements that had already been started."

The school, previously rated as Good, slipped into Requires Improvement in February 2014. It is great news for the school itself, the Swanley Village community and local families that it has delivered significant improvements and that these have been recognised. It is also good to be able to say that now all of the seven primary schools in the Darent Valley Division are rated Good.

Shoreham: The Mary Inniss Pavilion

Saturday saw the Shoreham Village Fete, and I was delighted to be asked to open the Mary Inniss Pavilion attached to Shoreham Village School.

The previous, more modest facilities suffered a fire some years ago. Mary Inniss, the long-serving Chair of Governors at the School (to whom I paid a tribute after her death in 2012), was committed to ensuring a new Pavilion for the use of both the school and community.

The project proved to be a long-running one but has now been delivered. A number of Heads and Governors at the School have given the project their support. Funding came from Corey Environmental Trust, a significant bequest from Mary's estate, from my Member Community Grant (as it then was) and other local KCC grants which I persuaded my colleagues to support. I also worked with KCC's legal team to ensure that all the necessary legal work was completed to deliver the project.

On Saturday I opened the Pavilion in the company of Richard, Mary's husband, and Gillian Lovatt-Young, who has driven such remarkable progress at the Village School. Given Mary's commitment to the School and to Shoreham, it is entirely appropriate that the Pavilion bears her name.

Pothole blitz to be launched in June

KCC will launch its annual pothole blitz in mid-June, it was announced yesterday. Some £3 million in funding, which includes £1.4 million received recently from central government, will be deployed. The work will be done on a District by District basis, and work will also be carried out on lines and verges.

This acceleration of our normal work in tackling potholes comes a little later in the year than usual - typically it starts in the spring - reflecting the later than usual release of government funding. However, it should now gather pace quickly, and residents are encouraged to report potholes via the Highways section of the KCC website. This should ensure the most timely response.

Street lining in Swanley Village

One issue that Swanley Village Residents' Association have raised with me has been the condition of much of the lining and road markings in the village. The centre line in Highlands Hill has been a particular concern. 

I secured with a payment from my Combined Member Grant the services of a lining team for a morning in the village. The team arrived promptly at 9 one day a couple of weeks ago, met the Residents' Association chairman (who had volunteered to oversee the work) and worked through until around noon. All the junctions on Swanley Village Road done - School Lane, Beechenlea Lane, Button Street and Wood Street - were painted, plus the centre line at the bottom of Highlands Hill and the two SLOW signs near Elizabethan Cottage. It looks a big improvement.

Action on A225 flooding

As I reported in an earlier post, Kent Highways officers have been working for some time to resolve the severe flooding by the railway bridge on the A225 between Shoreham and Eynsford, close to Preston Hill. Following various surveys, in late January and early February a number of drainage systems near the road (gullies, a catch pit and a soakaway) were identified, dug out and cleansed.

Since these works were carried out, there has been only one significant flooding incident, suggesting that this had at least some effect. However, further improvements are now being undertaken (hence the traffic lights that you may have seen on the road in the last few days). A new soakaway is being installed and the ditch immediately behind it is being cleared of debris. Further works may be investigated in the longer term, but this should in any case deliver improvements and greater safety on the road.

More resurfacing in Eynsford

The A225 running through Eynsford has already seen two significant road resurfacings over the last eighteen months or so: the first (in September 2014) ran from the Baptist Church in the High Street northwards to the junction with Mill Lane; the second (in October 2015) from the end point of the first works up towards Farningham and the junction with Beesfield Lane.

Next week will see resurfacing further south on the A225: from the point at which Station Road becomes High Street to the junction with Bower Lane.  The works will be carried out overnight (between 10pm and 5am) on two consecutive nights, starting on 28 April.

Unlike last year's works, this project was not initiated by a bid from our local Highways team (though they are certainly supportive of it) but rather as a result of what is called the 'gateway survey'. KCC carries out regular inspections of the county's roads, and as part of this process all roads in the county are inspected annually to determine their condition and priority for resurfacing. This is undertaken through both mechanical and visual inspections. It was this survey that identified this section of the A225 as a resurfacing priority. We should therefore see a third enhancement to the main route through Eynsford.

Flooding in Eynsford

Flooding in Eynsford High Street near Gibson's Place and the bus stop has been a serious problem for a number of years. It has caused significant difficulties for local residents and businesses, such as Norman's the Butchers. I have at a number of points worked with Kent Highways officers to seek both a diagnosis of the problem and ultimately a solution.

A CCTV survey of the area was carried out last year, and it identified that the outfall (ultimately going into the River Darent), which is linked to the foundations of Gibson's Place, is damaged. Officers have been in touch with the landowner, Apex Eynsford Management, to agree solutions.

The current proposal is to put in an extra catch pit in the area by the lay by, and then connect this to an existing chamber. From there it will connect to and discharge into the river. I understand that KCC's drainage engineer for the area will be meeting contractors to discuss the project early next week. At this point there is neither full confirmation of the project (which would require significant traffic management), nor a date, but there is at least some prospect of tackling this long-standing problem.

Something a bit different ... Government academy plans

By and large, I have kept this blog pretty local - I have occasionally touched on wider Kent issues, including aspects of my work in education, health and (earlier) broadband, but the main focus has remained on Darent Valley matters.

This morning I'll make a bit of an exception, though. The government's plans in a recently published White Paper to require every school in the country to become an academy by 2020-22 have stirred a lot of concern and opposition. As widely reported in the media - including the Daily Mail, the BBC and the Guardian - that opposition has included many Conservatives, especially those in local government.  In my role as Cabinet Member for Education at KCC, I was one of those who expressed concern.

The result was that I had a rather busier than expected Easter weekend, with two national TV interviews, and I was then invited by the website Conservative Home to set out my thoughts on why the government's plans are flawed.

You can find the article here. As you will see, I am far from hostile to academies, and the thinking behind many of the academy freedoms. But I do object to compulsion and the imposition of a uniform model on schools. There are also big questions - currently unanswered - as to how the capacity for a large number of Multi-Academy Trusts, able and willing to take the huge number of (chiefly) primary schools across the country who have not yet shown any wish to convert to academy status, will be brought into being. In Darent Valley, we have seven primary schools, none of which is currently an academy - and all of which would be required to convert under these plans, whatever their wishes.

Crockenhill 20 mph zone takes shape

As part of the range of schemes aimed at reducing speeding in the heart of Crockenhill, a 20 mph zone has been established. The signage that supports this comprises signs and roundels at different entry points to the centre of the village, in Cray Road, Green Court Road, and Eynsford Road, as well as in Stones Cross Road, Church Street and Old Chapel Road.

Most of this has now been installed. However, there were some difficulties in finding a site that did not inconvenience residents for a sign in Eynsford Road. However, this appears now to have been resolved and a satisfactory site found: the sign should go in early next week. In addition, some High Friction surfacing is due to be installed in Stones Cross Road by the school, but this will require a road closure and will not take place until the next school holidays in May.

These works have been paid for from my Combined Member Fund. This leaves the one remaining issue of installation of granite setts or an equivalent that can be put in without disrupting existing utilities under the road. I hope to post more news on this soon.

Steve Armstrong, community warden

Steve Armstrong, KCC's Community Warden for Eynsford, Farningham and Crockenhill, retires this week.

I have worked a lot with Steve over a number of years and he has been a huge asset to both the County Council and to the communities that he has served and where he is a well-known figure. A lot of the very strong reaction from Darent Valley Parish Councils to the Community Warden consultation in 2014 reflects the value put on Steve's work.

There has also been a lot of concern as to when and how a successor will be appointed. Having discussed the issue with Parish Councils, I took it up with both my Cabinet colleague, Mike Hill, and with the officers at KCC responsible for the warden service.

The difficulty is that recruitment and training of Community Wardens takes place in cohorts rather than on an individual basis, in part because of cost and in part to fit in with the schedules of partners in community safety such as Kent Police. However, officers have undertaken to give a clear timeline for the next round of recruitment as soon as possible. In the meantime, support for the communities that Steve has served will be provided (on, I understand, a proactive rather than a merely reactive basis) from wardens serving in Sevenoaks District and working with the local Community Safety Unit.

I will continue to monitor this with the aim of ensuring that a replacement is found as soon as possible, and that good cover is provided until then. In the meantime, I'm due for a coffee with Steve to thank him and wish him a happy retirement.

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.

Country parks - no change for Lullingstone

Back in the early autumn, there was considerable concern from Parish Councils in Darent Valley over a Prior Information Notice (PIN) issued by Kent County Council relating to the nine principal Country Parks that it operates, among them Lullingstone. The PIN, issued in late July (but only coming to the attention of Parish Councils, and me as a local Member, in September) was to test the market regarding interest from commercial or not for profit operators in operating one or more of these Country Parks, or bringing forward other proposals that could contribute to their better operation.

The concept of some external involvement in Country Parks has been on the table for a number of years, and KCC undertook a service review of Country Parks (as it has of many other services) in 2014. The PIN was one element that emerged from that review, alongside a 2014-17 strategy for Country Parks.
 
The unintentionally late communication of the PIN to Parish Councils - towards the end of the eight-week market testing process - added to local concerns. At the same time, KCC made clear that, at this point, it was committing itself to nothing more than to test the market for ideas. Any significant change arising from this would have been subject to extensive consultation.

I spoke directly with the officers leading the process, and the senior officer involved came to speak to the Lullingstone Liaison Group (which I chair and which brings together three Parish Councils and others with a strong interest in the park) in November.

The outcomes of the PIN were taken to a KCC internal board in December. It can now be confirmed that the County Council has responded to those who expressed an interest in the PIN, and that no organisation expressed an interest in Lullingstone Country Park.

Date set for South Darenth works

As I reported in an earlier post, Kent Highways will be removing an unwanted rumble strip and installing additional bollards in Holmesdale Road, South Darenth. The project is paid for from my Combined Member Fund.

A date for the works, which will require a week's road closure, has been set for 25 January. Given the time of year, there is always some uncertainty because of the weather, but hopefully thus can go ahead.

KCC publishes draft budget

The County Council has published its draft budget for 2016-17, to be put before County Councillors on 11 February.

As in previous years - but perhaps even more so - the key factors shaping the County Council's proposals have been increasing need for social care services, especially for the frail elderly, and reductions in government grant.

The Chancellor's Autumn Statement and Sprending Review in November set out the overall reduction in Revenue Support Grant (the main, non-ring fenced transfer from central to local government) but not how this would affect individual authorities. When these figures were released - as in previous years, just before Christmas - it became clear that shire authorities had suffered much more severe reductions than local government as a whole. For KCC, it was £46 million.

Pressures on adult social care for the coming year amount to £31 million (out of overall pressures of £80 million). As a result of this and the reductions in grant, KCC has had to find around £100 million in savings. It will also have to raise council tax by almost 4%, which raises £22m. In part, this will come from the 1.99% increase that the council is able to undertake without triggering a referendum, in addition, the government - recognising the pressures from demographic change and the National Living Wage on social care expenditure - is allowing councils with social care responsibilities, such as KCC, to levy a further 2% 'precept'.

Taken together, this will mean just over £40 extra on a Band C property, and of course more for higher banded properties. The Council is proposing this with considerable reluctance, but it is having to do so at a time when local government continues to deliver very large savings.

You can find out more about the council's proposals, including links to more detailed pages here.