Shoreham: Crown Road yellow lines and other issues

I was unable to attend Shoreham Parish Council on Thursday evening since I was speaking at a KCC event elsewhere in the County that evening. However, I submitted a written report. Here are some of the key issues from it.

Regarding the yellow lines that were wrongly painted in standard Highways style on Crown Road (see post of 9 October last year), a Kent Highways officer has now visited the site to see how much impact the winter weather had on them. An order is now being raised for their removal and replacement by lines suitable for a conservation area, as had originally been agreed between the Parish Council, Kent Highways and me. This will be carried out in the near future; it should be done within 4 to 8 weeks.

Secondly, after some close cooperation between KCC and Bromley Borough Council, a fly-tipping case will be brought to court shortly; a date is due to be set next week. This relates to fly-tipping incidents in Redmans Lane and Chelsfield Lane, which have both been hot spots for this sort of illegal activity.   

Concerns have been raised about a large pothole in High Street, which reopened shortly after apparently being fixed. I took this up with Kent Highways, who told me that the previous work had always been intended to be a temporary solution, albeit that it had not been expected to reopen quite so quickly. The pothole has now had more lasting work carried out to fix it. As mentioned in my previous post (3 March), the County Council is now undertaking a 'Find and Fix' drive to tackle potholes. If you're concerned about particular potholes, please contact me; I will raise the issue with Kent Highways to ensure it is dealt with through this programme.

I have also taken up the issue of water leakage in the village (from High Street, leading into Church Street) with Kent Highways, who have identified it as a Thames Water matter and raised it with the company.

Finally, I have in recent weeks been dealing with the issue of potential seismic exploration work in the Darent Valley by Tesla Exploration on behalf of Northdown Energy. This is being treated as permitted development rather than something that requires planning permission; however, Kent County Council is ensuring that local Members have the opportunity to meet the company to discuss the details of the project, and I will be doing this. I have also asked that the Parish Council be contacted by the company and should have the opportunity to meet them to address local concerns.

Crown Road Shoreham - the wrong sort of yellow lines

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

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

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

Yellow lines approved for Crown Road, Shoreham

At its March meeting, the Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board voted in favour of putting in yellow lines at the corner of Crown Road and High Street in Shoreham, but not two other proposed sites (the Church Street bend near The George pub and the corner of Mill Lane). Following a representation that consultation figures had not been fully presented at the meeting, the JTB considered the issue again. I spoke in favour of the stance taken in March and the JTB voted in favour of this.