Bus subsidy review - still early days

There has been a lot of concern and debate following a meeting of Kent County Council's Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee on 30 November, at which a paper on possible reductions in bus subsidies was discussed. This was followed by the release of a list of services that might be affected.

It is certainly the case that, in its budget for 2018/19 the County Council is considering reducing bus subsidies by £2 million, with a further potential reduction of £2 million in 2019/20. This is part of the savings package of around £65 million that the Council indicated in its earlier consultations would be needed to balance its finances for the coming years.

However, the list of services potentially affected gave an exaggerated picture of the possible impacts of the subsidy reductions. 97% of bus journeys in Kent are commercial, whereas just 3% are subsidised. In many cases, it may be only journeys at the extremes of the day that are subsidised, not the entire service. Furthermore, discontinuation of the subsidy will not always mean that the operator will find it necessary to cease the service.

With all those caveats, the services listed that have some presence in the Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley Division are:

404/405 - (Go Coach) - Stone Street, Bichet Green, Fawke Common, Godden Green, Seal

435 - (Go Coach) - Otford

204 -  (Autocar) - Underriver

421 - (Go Coach) - Farningham, Eynsford, Shoreham, Otford

I will be examining carefully what impact, if any, comes from proposed changes to services in the Division. Formal consultation, it is worth remembering, does not start until January.

In addition, the County Council leader, Paul Carter, has made clear that he is meeting bus company leaders to examine what impact any subsidy reductions might have, while also focusing strongly on alternative ways of tackling the undoubted issues of rural and elderly isolation, such as taxi share schemes and community minibuses. In at least some circumstances, there may well be more efficient ways in which the County Council can support transport and reduce isolation than some of the more expensive and under-used bus routes.

The debate will continue in the New Year, and very little is settled yet.

The 531 bus

Throughout the autumn and into winter, there have been persistent problems with the 531 Arriva bus serving many school children travelling between Tonbridge and parts of the Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley Division such as Seal and Kemsing. There have been a variety of difficulties, but the most common has been afternoon buses filling up at the very early stages of the journey, with many children and young people then left stranded and having to make much more difficult journeys home - or ultimately be picked up by a parent at considerable inconvenience.

I have raised these concerns with Kent Highways officers, who have in turn taken them up with Arriva. The service is a commercial bus, not one commissioned by KCC (though of\ course many of the users have the KCC-supported Young Person's Travel Pass), so this has been a process of representation and discussion rather than contracting. However, Arriva has agreed to run the afternoon 531 service some ten minutes later, with the aim of encouraging those taking short journeys to take another bus and so relieve pressure on the 531. This change was registered quickly with the Traffic Commissioner and so came into effect today. I will watch carefully to see if this proves effective in easing the problems experienced by children and parents.

Drainage works in Eynsford Road

Residents in Eynsford Road, Farningham, experienced serious flooding in the autumn, and I have since been in frequent contact with Kent Highways officers who have been looking into the problem.

The latest update from the officers is that they are focusing on the main line that runs down the grass verge and then into South Hall Close. Officers will arrange for this to be cleansed and surveyed by a CCTV crew, improving the efficiency of the system as well as identifying any defects within it. There is a manhole cover in South Hall Close which is currently jammed shut and will need to be broken out and replaced before the CCTV crew can access the chamber. There have been  some delays because South Hall Close is a private road, but the works are now set to go ahead, hopefully before Christmas (though the demands of winter gritting might get in the way). Once the manhole is released, the CCTV survey and mainline cleansing can be carried out in the New Year.

Hopefully this will offer resolution of the issue for Eynsford Road residents.

A20 Button Street barrier to be abandoned

Kent Highways have announced this morning that the experimental traffic order blocking the turn in and out of Button Street at its junction with the A20 will be abandoned. The barrier to block the turn, which was installed in early October, will be removed next week. This will involve overnight works (between the hours of 9PM and 5AM) during the nights of 8-9 and 9-10 November and will require a full road closure at that time.

This follows a series of problems with the scheme. Many local residents were concerned about possible diversion of traffic up Button Street into Swanley Village, as well as the safety of traffic going down the hill to turn at Kings roundabout at the foot of Farningham Hill. While I recognised that the scheme was a serious attempt to deal with a genuine problem (there has been a pattern of serious accidents at the Button Street junction), I shared many of these concerns. To make matters worse, contractors installed unsuitable barriers, which resulted in the need for lane closures and 40mph speed limits on the section of the A20 near the junction. These would have been lifted when new, more appropriate barriers were installed; this will now happen when the experimental traffic order is terminated next week.

None of this makes for a happy story, and it is now back to the drawing board - the problem remains, though effective and affordable solutions are not easily available. I will meet Kent Highways officers shortly to examine the options.

Crown Road lining works to start today

Today should see the start of resolving the long-running saga of the yellow lines in Crown Road Shoreham. Back in 2012 (!), lines were painted at the end of an extensive debate over the need (or not, depending on your point of view) for yellow lines in various parts of the village. In itself, this was fine; however, in part because the debate had already gone on for some time, and Highways staff had changed, the yellow lines were not painted, as agreed, in conservation area style but in standard format.

Since that time I have been seeking to get the issue rectified and at various points it seemed likely to be resolved. Part of the problem has been the cost and possible impact on the carriageway of removing the current lines. Earlier in the summer, some very welcome works were carried out to resurface Crown Road - but at that point the existing lines were repainted. In the aftermath of this, I reached agreement with our local Highways operations team that the repainting to a conservation area  primrose would take place as soon as possible.

The road is set to be closed today for up to three days for carriageway patching and lining works. Hopefully this should mean a final and satisfactory resolution to this issue.

A20 Button Street junction

The junction of Button Street with the A20 has been the scene of several serious accidents, one of them fatal, in the last few years. Many if not all of these accidents have involved vehicles making a right turn that takes them across the fast-moving traffic coming from the direction of the Swanley interchange.

Kent Highways are consequently installing (on a trial basis) a barrier to close off the central crossover and prevent right hand turns. This will be done under an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order which will operate over a six month period. Installation will require a five day programme of road and lane closures, which will start this coming Monday.

Many residents of Farningham and of Swanley Village have major concerns about this initiative, and I share these worries. Under the new arrangements, vehicles coming out of Button Street (including lorries coming from Watts Farm) and wanting to get to the Swanley interchange will have to head down the hill to Kings roundabout and then come back up. Some may seek to avoid this by more dangerous manoeuvres, and there is also the prospect of vehicles choosing to go instead through Swanley Village, which has more than its share of HGV problems.

With an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order, consultation (over a six month period) starts when the Order comes into force, so this will provide the opportunity for residents to set out concerns and objections. I will monitor these closely in the coming weeks, and continue to express my own concerns.

Latest on the pothole blitz

As I have reported before, Kent County Council's Find and Fix programme (or 'pothole blitz') for tackling potholes across the County has been running since April. So far, KCC has spent £2.7 million, patching 66,800m2 and filling an equivalent of 133,600 individual potholes on a road network of over 5,000 miles.

However, the County Council is able to spend some £5.2 million in total and the programme is continuing - weather permitting - until Christmas. Much of the remaining work and expenditure is programmed in but it is still important if you are aware of a pothole to report it via the KCC website.

The Find and Fix programme is being delivered by six local firms, each covering two Districts (for Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells, it is SCG Kent Ltd), who have so far delivered good quality work for the County.

Well Hill: broadband latest

Well Hill has long suffered from severe problems with its broadband and (in some cases) telephone services. The area is served from a cabinet some distance away at Hewitt's roundabout; the copper wire connections from the cabinet to Well Hill properties are long and subject to interference from electrical supply sources (such as the National Grid) - what is known as Repetitive Electrical Impulse Noise (REIN). 

As a result, some telephone services (notably those in Pump Lane and parts of Well Hill) are very poor, and - even though the Hewitt's roundabout cabinet was fibre enabled by a private provider some time ago - broadband services are very variable, ranging from the minimal to the sub-superfast and with poor reliability.

KCC has long been seeking to tackle the problem as part of the overall BDUK project to raise superfast broadband coverage across the County, now in its second phase. In the spring of last year, there appeared to be a solution in sight. A new cabinet would be installed at the bottom of Rock Hill, supplanting that in Hewitt's roundabout, and it was anticipated that this would be installed this autumn. However, the scheme (along, I understand, with other similar schemes across the country) fell foul of an Ofcom objection on competition grounds (since the services installed by the private provider at Hewitt's roundabout would be supplanted by a state aided alternative, even though Well Hill residents do not receive superfast broadband from it and remain subject in many cases to an unacceptably poor telephone service).

This has naturally caused great concern among residents, and George Chandler (KCC's project manager leading the BDUK initiative) and I attended a public meeting in the Mission Church on Monday evening. Happily, however, we were able to tell residents that an alternative approach, relying on Fibre to the Premises technology from the new cabinet, has been agreed in principle. 

The aim is to roll this out as fast as possible, though even this will take many months. The new approach is still subject to risks; extensive tree works needed to accommodate the fibre cables could push up costs to an unacceptable level, and it is possible that there could be further regulatory problems, though the scheme is very different from its predecessor. Nonetheless, this looks to be a major step back on track, and George is taking the project forward vigorously. He and I will make sure that Well Hill residents are kept closely informed as to the next developments.

Crockenhill: extra rumble strips go in this week

One of the measures intended to reduce speeds and improve safety in the centre of Crockenhill, in particular in the approaches to the Main Road - Cray Road - Broadway junction, was the installation of granite sets. Their purpose was to highlight to drivers that they were coming in to the centre of the village, reinforcing the message of the 20mph zone and additional signage.

The sets were installed in the spring, but residents' reaction was to be distinctly underwhelmed; the sets are relatively small and unobtrusive. I therefore agreed at the time with Kent Highways and the Parish Council that the sets would be reinforced by rumble strips. These are already in place in the Green Court Road (leading in to Broadway) approach to the junction, having been placed as a trial alternative late last year. They are undoubtedly more visible, and the combined effect is a much stronger one; they will now be introduced at the other two approaches.

Kent Highways had promised that the installation would take place in the early part of the summer holidays, and have now announced that there will be a road closure in Eynsford Road/ Main Road tomorrow (Monday 31 July) to carry out the works. Those in Cray Road will be carried out under a partial closure using traffic lights, and should also be in place this week.

Works moving ahead in Gibsons Place

The works that I described in a February post to tackle the flooding problems around Gibsons Place have taken place in two parts. Proceeding to the second stage was very dependent on Kent Highways reaching agreement with the management company for the development, and those works - as shown in the picture - are now well under way.

The first stage of the works was to put a large containment area into the road, with pipes bringing water from the previous, flood-prone gullies and into this storage space. Even on its own, this first phase has had a significant effect, as can be seen from the significant reduction in flooding even in recent periods of heavy rain.

The current phase involves installing further pipework from the High Street to the existing head wall. This is proving to be tricky work, with a lot of utilities to be navigated, and has had a significant impact on residents' access to parts of the development. This should be eased once the works get to the archway towards the back of the development, which (with two crews working on it) should be achieved within a week, weather permitting.

Two pipes will run from the containment area to a catch pit (to remove much of the silt in the water), at which point a single pipe will take the water to discharge into the river. As previously reported, there will be a flap over the end of the pipe to prevent water flowing back into the system when river levels are high.

The works already carried out have had a significant effect, and hopefully the completion of the second stage of the project should see a lasting resolution to this long-standing problem

Eynsford: more measures introduced near the school

As I posted back in February, the installation of yellow lines in front of Alton Cottages was to be followed by a number of additional measures to reinforce their effect.

Some of these have now been carried out. Additional bollards have been installed - on both the Alton Cottages side of the road, and at the dropped kerb near the junction with Priory Lane - to prevent vehicles mounting the pavement, presenting a hazard to children and parents, and also blocking a key crossing point. A sign warning approaching drivers of pedestrians crossing at this point has also been installed. Now Kent Highways has issued a Statement of Works notice that the pavements of either side of this same stretch of road will be resurfaced. Hopefully this will make areas such as the footpath in front of Alton Cottages, currently in poor condition, much more usable for parents and children as part of a good route to school.

Some other plans, such as possible bollards installation further south in the village, need more work, but these measures represent a modest but useful further step forward.

Kent's Children's Services Rated Good by Ofsted

Yesterday saw the publication of Ofsted's inspection report on Kent County Council's Children's Services. The outcome was very encouraging, rating the Council's services as 'Good'. This puts Kent in the top third or better of authorities in the country.

The result is all the better, given that Kent's services were rated 'Inadequate' in 2010, an outcome described by KCC Leader Paul Carter as the darkest day of his leadership of the County. An extensive improvement programme has been in place since then, yielding an 'Adequate' rating in 2013 and now the move up to 'Good'. And this for a big and complex county, in which the Council  not only has responsibility for around 1,400 local children in care, but has also had to deal with significant inflows of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC), especially during a big surge in numbers in 2015. There are also roughly as many looked after children placed in the County by other local authorities.

The report gave high praise to services supporting adoption, fostering, children in care and those leaving care, asylum seeking children, those on 'the edge of care' and others, including the Virtual School Kent; it also praised the commitment and high quality practice of Kent's social workers. Some areas still have room for improvement, notably those for 'children who need help and protection'; in some cases, referrals were closed down prematurely and practice was not consistently good. Overall, the report provides some ten recommendations for improvement.

This strong outcome is a tribute to the dedication of front-line staff; to a senior management team that has given clear and committed leadership; and to political leaders, above all my predecessors in this job, Jenny Whittle and Peter Oakford, who backed the process of improvement unswervingly and were willing to put the necessary resources behind it. As the new portfolio holder for Children's Services, I can (and do) claim no credit for this result; however, I now have a job to do in overseeing the Council's practice development plan, which will seek both to implement the report's recommendations and to drive still further overall improvement.

You can find the full report here.

KCC response to South Eastern Rail franchise consultation

Kent County Council has put in a very thorough response to the Department for Transport (DfT)'s consultation on the new South Eastern rail franchise, which closes today. The new franchise to run services in the County will come into effect in December next year.

The response is very wide-ranging, covering some matters that are very remote from Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley, such as a Thanet Parkway Station, but also some that are very close to home. Overall, KCC emphasises the need for enhanced services, including more space on trains, to meet the needs of the County's rapidly rising population. There is support for a DfT proposal for stock to be transferred from Thameslink (which is itself taking on new stock) to the South Eastern services to enhance capacity.

Otford Station is among those picked out as requiring enhanced connectivity, in particular to Sevenoaks and to Maidstone East. Otford is also highlighted as one of the stations in need of enhanced parking capacity.

KCC has also worked with and promotes the proposals from the Sevenoaks Rail Travellers Association, for Sevenoaks to have a special status (similar to that of Watford junction) in relation to the London zonal fares, integrated with them but set by the Train Operating Company rather than by Transport for London. It also urges consideration of including the Darent Valley stations between Sevenoaks and Swanley in the scheme.

You can find a press release summarising KCC's response here, and the full document here.

New Cabinet role: some change, and some même chose

Following the County Council elections, KCC Leader Paul Carter has appointed a new Cabinet. I have taken on the role of Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education.

Previously I was the Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform. The new post means some continuity - I retain the responsibility for Education that I have had for the last four years - but also change. In particular, and reflecting recent changes to KCC's Directorate structure, I will also take on responsibility for Specialist Children's Services (such as child protection, fostering and adoption), as well as youth services and KCC's role in youth justice. Almost everything that the Council delivers to children and young people will come within the portfolio; its list of responsibilities is very long indeed.

A corollary of this is that I step aside from my work on KCC's relationship with the NHS, including chairing Kent's Health and Wellbeing Board. This is something of a wrench - I have worked at this for much of the last seven years, and have developed knowledge, relationships and engagement with the fascinating and important issues of the health and care system. However, it is perhaps time to move on, and the new portfolio is a much better and more coherent fit. And it is a chance to serve the young people of Kent, including the most vulnerable - a big but exciting responsibility.

The new Cabinet in full is:

Leader of the Council - Paul Carter
Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Commissioning & Public Health - Peter Oakford
Cabinet Member for Finance - John Simmonds
Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care - Graham Gibbens
Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education - Roger Gough
Cabinet Member for Customers, Communications and Performance - Susan Carey
Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport & Waste - Matthew Balfour
Cabinet Member for Corporate and Democratic Services - Eric Hotson
Cabinet Member for Economic Development - Mark Dance
Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services - Mike Hill

A20 fatal crash

Many people will have seen the reports of the shocking car crash, in which two young men were killed, on the A20 London Road near Farningham some ten days ago. The collision - invoking three vehicles - took place at around 1:20 am on Saturday 29 April, near the junction with Eglantine Lane. The two young men who lost their lives were both musicians: Mike Crampton, keyboard player with the Dartford band The Pisdicables, and his friend James Montegriffo. Eight other people were injured, one seriously.

I did not post about this at the time - it did not seem right to do so in the midst of an election campaign - but it is clearly important to track any information that emerges from now on as to what happened and why.

A lot of concerns have been raised about safety on the A20, and in particular around the junctions in Farningham - I have attended two site meetings seeking to address the issues in the last eighteen months. Kent Highways has identified the A20 junction with Button Street as having a particular concentration of accidents, and are looking to bring forward measures to address this, but there is less agreement and clarity regarding other potential problems on the A20.

At the time of writing, we have yet to see reports from Kent Police and others, and so it is impossible to draw any conclusions, or to say whether or not the horrific events were caused by features of the road that might be susceptible to highways engineering solutions. Reports indicate that the collision was head on rather than involving a vehicle emerging from a junction.

For now, our thoughts must be with the friends and families of the victims of the crash, but as more details emerge I will post further updates, including emerging conclusions as to any possible courses of action.

Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley

I was delighted to be elected at last Thursday's County Council elections as the Member for the new Division of Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley. The results were:

Roger Gough (Conservative)         3,289 (64.4%)
Theo Michael (Labour)                     502 (9.8%)
Krish Shanmuganathan (Lib Dem)   476 (9.3%)
Philip Dodd (Green).                         463 (9.1%)
Graham Cushway (UKIP).                374 (7.3%)

Turnout was 32.3% of a large electorate of almost 16,000 voters.

This was a clear and emphatic result. It is not possible to make a comparison with the 2013 results because of boundary changes, but there has clearly been a strong move towards the Conservatives, as was seen across much of the rest of the county and indeed the country. And while there was some variation between polling districts, it was clear that my support came from across the Division.

My twelve years representing the Darent Valley Division expire tomorrow. I will carry forward into the new Division many of the villages and communities that I have represented, but will sadly lose Swanley Christchurch, Swanley High Firs and Badgers Mount. The new communities in the Division (making up around half the electorate) will be the parishes of Otford, Kemsing and Seal (including Seal Chart and Underriver).

As an electoral map of Kent shows, Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley is a large and rather oddly-shaped Division. It borders London, and runs from the North of the District southwards, snaking round to the East and (despite its name) slightly to the South of Sevenoaks Town. I look forward to representing residents from all communities, old and new.

The outcome in the Division reflected the overall picture in Kent. The Conservatives have been returned with 67 out of 81 County Councillors. The Liberal Democrats, with 6 Councillors, are now the opposition party. UKIP, who made up the official opposition in the 2013-17 Council, have been obliterated from the electoral map of Kent (again, this was reflected locally; while they were runners up in Darent Valley in 2013, they came bottom of the poll in the new Division).

Thank you to everyone who voted, and above all to those who gave me their confidence and support. Tomorrow it is back to County Hall for the start of a new Council term.

Out and about 2017

I have been relatively quiet on this blog of late, not least because the County Council elections are in full swing. I have been out campaigning across the Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley Division. Polling is tomorrow. Getting out across the Division has been a great reminder of how lovely it is - even on a grey day, as in the photo I took looking out over Eynsford.

The establishment of the new Division, created by the Boundary Commission, replaces the current Darent Valley Division. This means, regrettably, an end to my representing Swanley (except for Swanley Village, which comes into the new Division) and Badgers Mount. I attended last Friday's Badgers Mount Annual Parish Meeting and said my goodbyes. I am sad that, whatever happens tomorrow, I will no longer represent either area.

Eynsford - village entry point

There have long been concerns about safety around the point where traffic enters Eynsford on the A225 from the south.  Traffic tends to be fast moving as it comes in from the open road, and bends make visibility poor.

With support from my Combined Member Fund, signage has been enhanced to warn drivers of pedestrians crossing, and a SLOW sign has been refreshed. There is more to do to refresh the high fruition surfacing that also acts as a reminder that drivers are entering a village; this is due to follow, but the existing works already represent a useful step forward.

Swanley Village - The Sign, at last

The long-running saga of the Swanley Village sign has finally come to an end - well, almost.

Some time ago I arranged, through my Combined Member Find, to have the Swanley Village sign, which had become alarmingly unstable, given a new base. The sign was taken down, though the work to set up the new base proved time-consuming as there were a number of changes of Highways staff dealing with the issue.

Eventually, however, around Christmas, the new traffic island, base and pole were installed. This has been well-received, and local residents have created flower beds on the island. But - the sign itself was not there, since it needed repainting.

Throughout, I have followed up with Kent Highways officers and, through them, our contractors, to urge that the job be completed and the sign installed. Over the weekend, it at last arrived. The sign looks good back in its place as the symbol of the village. However, one problem still remains - the pole is bare steel, while its predecessor was a painted a more elegant black. So a coat of paint will still be needed - and then perhaps the job will be truly complete.

Pothole blitz gets under way

Kent County Council's spring 'Find and Fix' campaign - otherwise known as the pothole blitz - is under way.

The campaign will be in two phases. This month some £500K, set aside by the County Council and using a network of local contractors, will be spent on the campaign. A further £1.96m will be spent after mid-May; this is money allocated from national government to local authorities.

The campaign will focus on the minor roads that often get much less of the funding available than do the more major routes. Despite the 'pothole blitz' terminology, much of the work will be patching over a wider area than a single pothole - but it should all contribute to improvement of the roads.

Initial activity will pick up problems that are already known, but where holes are not at the 'intervention level' that triggers immediate action by Kent Highways. In addition, residents and Parish Councils can use Kent Highways' usual fault reporting system.

Crockenhill granite setts to go in

A major element of the safety measures targeted at the centre of Crockenhill - in particular, around the junctions of Main Road, Cray Road and Broadway - has been the potential installation of granite setts to focus drivers' attention that they are coming into the centre of the village.

At a meeting that I held with Kent Highways and the Parish Council in September, it was agreed that an alternative approach, using rumble strips, would be tried out. The strips were installed at the Broadway approach to the junction, and given a trial period to see if it was felt that they could provide the same or similar benefits.

The Parish Council, drawing on feedback from residents, concluded in January that the rumble strips were not sufficient, and so it was agreed to go ahead with the installation of the setts, paid for from my Combined Member Fund. This will begin tomorrow, starting with the Eynsford Road/ Main Road approach. This will require a road closure, probably lasting a couple of days; for the other approaches, contrary to earlier anticipations, traffic lights should be sufficient.

The installation of the setts should give added force to the other measures undertaken so far, including the 20mph zone. For the main action still outstanding, the installation of village entry signs, locations have been agreed; this should take place early in the new financial year.  

Keep Kent Clean

The Great British Spring Clean - a national effort to clean and tidy up the country, hopefully set to become an annual event - is due to take place this weekend. Over the last few weeks, Kent County Council has been promoting the Keep Kent Clean initiative, designed to support the Great British Spring Clean but also to run throughout the entire month of March.

The County Council, working with District and Parish Councils and through community wardens and its other officers, is undertaking its own cleanup and is encouraging others to get involved. KCC's work will include vegetation clearance, refreshing of white lines, litter picks in areas such as country parks (of which more in a minute) and cleaning of road signs.

The County Council is also pressing for details from Highways England as to the work they will be undertaking concerning the condition of their verges (which are a significant concern, and are an issue that constituents have raised with me).

You can find out more about Keep Kent Clean from this Facebook page, which includes a video with KCC Leader Paul Carter.

Events in Darent Valley over the weekend include litter picks in Swanley, in Horton Kirby and South Darenth (starting from the village hall) at 11 on Sunday, and in Lullingstone Country Park on Saturday morning at 10 - I'm planning to be at the Lullingstone pick.

Eynsford school run: next steps

On Thursday morning I joined members of the School Run Safety Campaign (SRSC), the Parish Council and Kent Highways Officers to review the impact so far of the yellow lines installed in the High Street just over a fortnight ago.

We all recognised long in advance that the yellow lines would be only part - albeit an important one - of the response to the traffic issues around the school, that we would need to watch for any intended or unintended consequences of their implementation, and that there are other changes (in particular, the careful use of bollards) that could and should be made on the roads and pavements.

Experience so far suggests that the lines outside Alton Cottages have had a beneficial effect. Among the big continuing concerns are vehicles mounting the pavement; parking on narrow stretches of pavement that blocks pedestrian access, especially for anyone with a buggy; and cars parking across the newly installed dropped kerbs.

We agreed that bollards should be installed in three places: on the narrow pavement near the school entrance, where children pass through in large numbers after the end of the school day; a little further along the same stretch of pavement, outside 19 Alton Cottages; and to one side of the dropped kerb near the junction with Priory Lane. In addition, a pedestrian sign will be put on the column by the corner of Priory Lane to alert drivers to those crossing at the dropped kerb.

These measures (which will be paid for from my Combined Member Fund) will be implemented as soon as possible. We also examined the situation further south on the High Street (heading towards the Bower Lane junction). There is an argument for some bollards to be installed there too, and this was discussed at previous meetings with Kent Highways. There are, however, practical problems; for example, regulations do not allow bollards to be placed on narrow sections of pavement, where they would make the space for pedestrians too narrow - but if they are installed on the wider sections, cars will park on the narrower sections, making the pedestrians' problems still worse. 

We therefore agreed to review the situation again, around Easter, and come to a decision then as to whether more bollards are required. As we come into the new financial year, we will also look at the possibility of resurfacing the pavement outside Alton Cottages, which is in poor condition and likely to take an increasing number of pedestrians.

I will write a further update after we next review the situation around Easter.

Drainage works for Eynsford 'lake'

Anyone in or passing through the centre of Eynsford recently will have seen the works (pictured) taking place near Gibson's Place. These are being carried out by Kent Highways and are designed to address the long-standing flooding there, about which I have posted before. The flooding problems have generated a mini (or not so mini-) lake whenever there is significant rainfall, creating significant problems for residents, the butcher's opposite, parents taking children to the school and others.

The current works in the carriageway should be complete by the end of the week, with the next phase starting next Monday (20 February). A new pipe, running from the current area of flooding, will be installed along with a large catch pit. The final section of piping (some 6 metres) that connects the drainage system under Gibson's Place to the river will be upgraded, with a flap over the end of the pipe run to prevent water running back up the drainage system when the river levels are high.

Barring weather or other setbacks, the works should be completed by the following weekend (around 25 February). Then we will wait to see if - as will hopefully be the case - this long-standing problem has been tackled.

Yellow lines go in

Shortly before Christmas, the Sevenoaks JTB approved two important lines projects in Darent Valley.  These were for Alton Cottages in High Street, Eynsford, just north of Anthony Roper Primary School, and for Green Court Road in Crockenhill. Both are designed to help tackle the parking problems near the respective village schools.

The issues in Eynsford in particular have been very long running, and the new measures have been carried out working with the School Run Safety Campaign in the village. The yellow lines (which are likely to be supplemented very shortly by bollards at critical points  in the village) should be complemented by greater access to alternative parking places, such as the car park next to the scout hut and parish office.

As of today, the yellow lines are installed in both locations. I will add a picture as soon as possible.

Swanley Village - everything except the sign

Just before Christmas, KCC contractors were at work in Swanley Village, installing a new island at the top of School Lane, with a base on which the village sign can be reinstated. This is part of a long-running project, paid for by my Combined Member Fund to restore what had become a dangerously insecure village sign. However, as the picture (taken during the Christmas/ New Year break) shows, the sign itself is not yet back in place.

Hopefully, it very soon will be. The frame containing the sign is rusty, so is currently in the hands of the contractors, who will have it cleaned and repainted. Then, finally, it should be back in its place as the symbol of the village.

Goldsel Road lights out (still, again)

Around Christmas 2015, residents of the Crockenhill end of Goldsel Road had to endure a long period of the street lights being out. The problem recurred in November, and has yet to be fixed. I have had many representations from local residents, and from the Parish Council, and have sought to get this resolved.

At the time,  I notified Kent Highways' lighting engineer, who concluded that (as was the case last year) the problem reflected a power failure. This was reported to the network supplier, UK Power Networks (UKPN).

I understand that a UKPN team visited the site before Christmas, but were unable to locate a fault. However, Kent Highways has remained of the view that this was indeed a cable fault - the fact that half a dozen or so new lights have all gone out together strongly supports this - and relayed this view to UKPN.

The Lighting Engineer has since spoken to the UKPN local authority helpline; they have confirmed that the fault is on the UKPN system. It is now being treated as a high priority as it relates to a group of lights being out (and, of course, have now been so for some time). The work has been passed to a crew who are experienced in locating underground faults and are treating the fault as a priority.

Kent Highways' Lighting Engineer will continue to check the area regularly. I share residents' frustration that this has taken so long, but continue to pursue the issue and hope that this now represents progress towards getting it fixed.

UPDATE 12 January: As of last night, the lights are reported back on.