Swanley Village Road: cleansing the culvert

I wrote in the recent Swanley Village newsletter than the long-awaited works on the culvert in Swanley Village Road were due to take place on Wednesday (6 November).

When it appeared that this had not been completed, I followed up with KCC officers. It appears that the screen was cleared, and the gullies cleansed and jetted. However, the contractors did not jet the culvert itself, apparently because they did not have what they believed to be the correct vehicle to carry out the work safely. KCC required that they return with the appropriate vehicle, and it appears that there was a revisit yesterday and the works were completed.

EES: a welcome delay

It has been the week of two delays. The first - that of a decision on Lower Thames Crossing until next May - which came on Monday, was deeply disappointing. The second - that of the introduction of the EU’s new external frontier checks, the Entry Exit System (EES) - is likely to be positive for Kent residents. 

EES was scheduled to be introduced - after many delays and falls starts - at 2 am on Sunday 10 November. However, late on Thursday afternoon, a month before the planned commencement of EES, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson announced a further delay, stating that 10 November would not go ahead and that there would be “a phased approach” to introduction. This reflected major Member States, including France, Germany and the Netherlands reporting that they were not ready to go ahead, citing technological problems and in particular the interface with EU-wide systems.

In Kent, we were not banking on this delay, even as it came to look more and more likely. We have been raising the issue for years, and in January I gave evidence to a parliamentary committee about the risks that EES introduction posed to Kent, in particular spillover of delays in the highly constrained Eastern Docks at the Port of Dover onto the county’s roads. In July, Leaders of councils in Kent came together to highlight the issue to the new government. Ministers have provided additional funding to the points of departure, works have begun to develop sites at the Western Docks and partners in the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum have developed extensive contingency plans. 

Nonetheless, the delay is helpful, giving more time for some of these projects to develop and for discussions with the French authorities over a pragmatic approach to the introduction of the new system. While the approach to introduction of EES is now unclear, it may give scope for a gradual approach (enabling, for example, first registrations to be undertaken at quieter times only, easing the whole process of introduction of the new system) or perhaps even a move to operate remote registration from the start (which neither systems nor regulations are currently set up for). 

The announcement generated a lot of media interest, and I gave interviews to BBC South East, ITV Meridian and Heart/ LBC (I had already spoken to BBC Radio Kent on Thursday morning before the Commission’s announcement). You can also find our media release about the delay here. We will now await more details but, for the present at least, this is good news. 

Childsbridge Lane closure for road patching

KCC will be carrying out carriageway patching (road repairs) in Childsbridge Lane, resulting in a road closure. 

The road will be closed from Friday 25 August for up to four days, excluding the weekend. The closure will run from School Lane to the railway bridge, and the official diversion route is via A25 High Street in Seal, A225, Pilgrims Way East/ Pilgrims Way and into Childsbridge Lane (or vice versa if coming from Kemsing or any point north of the closure). 

Three days left for street party road closures applications

As at the time of last year’s Platinum Jubilee, KCC has waived fees on road closures for people seeking to celebrate His Majesty the King’s Coronation with a street party. However, there are now just three days left in which to submit an application - they must be presented by this Friday, 3 March.

You can find our media release about waiving fees here. We will be posting more about the Coronation weekend in the near future.

Tackling drainage on the A225

Kent Highways drainage officers have been working to address the flooding issues on the A225 between Shoreham and Eynsford. Some of these issues, notably at the railway bridge near Preston Farm, have been persistent problems over a long time, while others such as those closer to the entrance to Eynsford have become more severe recently.

Works (cleansing, emptying chambers) were carried out by the Eynsford Station railway bridge around a fortnight ago, though there is still some root cutting that is due to take place shortly. A little to the south, a second drainage system, which drains to a soakaway in low lying land near the road, has been worked on but further cleansing is due to take place. The drainage engineer has also been in contact with the Environment Agency, since their have a pumping station appears also to be an important part of the system, pumping ground water into the river. Finally, there will be further works up the hill from these sites, where water drains into a filter pipe system in the verge.

There will be a further cleansing of the system all the way down from the area around the Preston Farm railway bridge. Taken together with what has already been done, this should make a real difference but I will urgently relay any new problems that arise to the drainage team.

KCC challenges London Mayor over ULEZ

As Leader of Kent County Council, I have written to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, concerning the proposed expansion of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) to the outer London border.

During last year's consultation on the ULEZ expansion, KCC set out its view that the scheme would not be acceptable without an extension of the scrappage scheme to areas bordering London, including affected areas of Kent. This view has not been accepted by the Mayor as he takes the scheme forward (with implementation planned for August this year).

My letter therefore reiterates this concern, and raises the question as to why the proposed ULEZ border does not match that of the Air Quality Management Areas in London. It also makes clear that we will not continue works to install warning signage on our road network unless and until we see these concerns addressed.

In taking this stance, KCC is representing the concerns and interests of our many residents who may be affected by the ULEZ extension in its current form, and joining the growing concern and opposition expressed by outer London boroughs and authorities who border London. We are considering further steps. You can find KCC's media release about this here.

New bollards (and replacements) for Lombard Street

Ten days ago, Kent County Council installed twenty nine new wooden bollards in Lombard Street, running up the hill from the end of the existing black and white bollards. The verge, which had been damaged by vehicles, has also been made safe. 

These works fill in a significant gap which was resulting in damage to the verge. Residents’ other concern has been the bad effect on local amenity of the black and white posts that had already been installed. The local Kent Highways team has succeeded in finding scope within its very limited budgets to first install the black and white bollards, and now to replace them with wooden bollards. An order has been placed and the replacement by the new bollards should take place before the end of the year.

KCC has limited direct involvement in the issues on and around the Oakview Stud Farm, though we work with other key partners such as the District and Parish Councils to help address them. The highway consequences of activity in the area are, however, our direct responsibility and we continue to address those.

Lombard Street parking: markers to be installed from Monday

Works are about to get under way in the first stage of efforts to address the parking problems in Lombard Street, Horton Kirby, near the former Oakview Stud Farm.

The Parish Council and KCC (represented by Kent Highways officers and me as local Member) have sought to address the problem and have discussed various ways of providing some improvements to improve the traffic flows and protect the largest area of highway verge. These measures involve the installation of black and white marker posts in the verge, 450mm back from the edge of the road from Reynolds Place Cottages for a distance of 70m, to prevent verge parking. 

The installation of the markers will start on this coming Monday, 22 November. 

Longer-term plans are for the provision of several sections of double yellow lines on the eastern side of the road, alongside the footway from opposite Reynolds Farm Cottages to the junction with Rays Hill. These sections of double yellow lines would only be short and would be located so that they can be used to allow vehicles to pass each other. Such a scheme will, however, Require full public consultation and the preparation of traffic regulation orders, which must be advertised. This process may take some six to nine months to be completed.

For the still longer term, discussions (involving Sevenoaks District Council’s planning department) are under way as to possible provision of parking in the area. In the meantime, however, these more immediate measures are under way.

Swanley Village road works

Early August (next week) will see road closures affecting Swanley Village. However, the details of how these will operate have changed (and for the better).

Thames Water is undertaking works that require a closure in Highlands Hill (original proposed dates 2-5 August). 

 

At around the same time, Network Rail are closing Beechenlea Lane for the first stage of major works to replace the bridge over the railway line. Much of the work is scheduled for later in the year, but with the aim of getting as much done during the school holidays as possible, the first closure will be on 2-3 August. 

 

It is clearly undesirable to have simultaneous closures, but the need to make progress (and, in the case of Thames Water, to carry out the works in full) during the school holidays, coupled with a lack of other available time slots for Thames Water to get their works done, has resulted in this clash. This, coupled with the closure of Beechenlea Lane, has meant that, while the recommended diversion route for the Network Rail route has been Button Street, that for the Thames Water works on Highlands Hill starts with School Lane, also undesirable on account of its narrowness. Nonetheless, this gives one diversion route at each end of Swanley Village Road.

 

To mitigate this problem, Kent Highways have secured agreement from Thames Water that they postpone the start of their works by one day until 3 August, cutting the overlap of the two sets of works to just one day. In addition, Button Street (then London Road, High Street, Swanley Lane) will be used as the diversion route, ending any need to use School Lane.

Holmesdale Hill

Resurfacing works are taking place yesterday and today at the corner of Holmesdale Road and Holmesdale Hill, going up the hill as far as the SLOW sign. The new surface will have higher skid resistance than the previous one

There there are also white line edge markings going in (or refreshed when already in place) on either side of the road and approaching and going round the bend. The cats eyes on the outside of the bend are also being replaced. These latter works may take a day or two longer to complete. 

Kent Highways officers will also examine, at my request, what other actions may be possible to address continuing concerns about traffic speed and safety on this stretch of road.

Pilgrims Way East update

Following on from yesterday’s post, I can update on Pilgrims Way East. The road remains closed at present, but KCC’s Streetworks team have had confirmation from Clancy/ South East Water that the road will be reinstated tomorrow. It will then take some hours for the tarmac to set before the road is reopened, most likely later tomorrow. So the road is still best avoided until then, but should be open on Sunday and, critically, Monday morning. Once again, if I get any further updates I will post again.

Road closures latest

Yesterday and today have seen a lot of disruption in and around Pilgrims Way, Kemsing, and Pilgrims Way East, Otford - though the significance of this road as a link to the A225 has big effects on other communities such as Seal and Knatts Valley. There have been three different incidents in the last 24 hours + affecting the roads.

(1) Kent Highways (KCC) carried out works in Pilgrims Way between Cotmans Ash Lane and Heaverham Road to deal with a damaged verge. These works took place yesterday and were completed by the end of the day

(2) South East Water carried out an emergency closure of Cotmans Ash Lane because of a burst pipe. At one point it appeared that this could be closed until Monday. However, I have just been informed by KCC’s Streetworks team that the works have been completed and the road has now been reopened 

(3) The biggest effect however has come from an emergency closure by South East Water in Pilgrims Way East, also because of a burst pipe. South East Water are currently requiring an emergency closure until Monday. KCC Streetworks team have challenged this, pushing for patching works to be done and then the road to be reopened, with works then completed over the weekend. However, South East Water argue that the damage (and resulting hole in the road - see pictures) is too great for this, and in these circumstances it is the utility’s assessment which prevails

However, the Streetworks team will push for earlier completion of the works if at all possible, and I will provide an update tomorrow as to when the closure, and resulting disruption, is likely to end.

Wood Street works start today

Wood Street, Swanley Village, is clsoed today and tomorrow for mircoasphalting works being carried out by Kent Highways. The two-day closure is from 7am until 7pm each day, with diversions via Button Street and Ship Lane. The condition of the road has long been a concern, and I took this up with Kent Highways officers when we did joint tours of my Division to assess road problems. These surface dressing works (the next step down from a full resurfacing) were programmed in for this financial year some time ago. Hopefully it will make a welcome difference to this part of the village.

Eynsford Road drainage works set for 3 July

Long-running efforts to tackle the flooding problems in Eynsford Road, Farningham have now identified parts of the drainage network in the private road off South Hall Close that are believed to be central to the flooding problems and confirmed that tthey are heavily silted.

Access to this part of the drainage network is difficult and will require the use of specialist equipment via a chamber on the western side of the green in Oliver Crescent. This will require parking restrictions in Oliver Crescent, with residents able to use the green (subject to there not having been heavy rain beforehand) for parking for that day. There has been a letter drop to residents and signs put up, and Kent Highways officers will be there on the day to oversee entry to and exit from the green. The success of the project rests on these parking arrangements working effectively.

Once this cleansing has been done, there will also be cleansing and emptying of the soakaways in Eynsford Road itself. It is to be hoped that these works will make the lasting difference to the effectiveness of drainage in Eynsford Road that is much needed, but which previous efforts have been unable to deliver.

Drainage works in Farningham

Kent Highways is carrying out drainage works in Farningham High Street between Sparepenny Lane and the river east of Dartford Road. The particular focus of the works is to tackle problems affecting Lion Cottages, where surface water run-off from the road comes over the footway and into houses.  There will be a range of work done on pipes, catch pits and cleansing. The required road closure began on 3 June; the aim has been to get the works completed in advance of businesses reopening. The closure will be in two phases (river bridge to Dartford Road; then Dartford Road to Sparepenny Lane) to create the shortest possible diversion route at any given time.

These works are quite separate from ongoing investigations into the very long-standing flooding problems in Eynsford Road. Since my previous post in mid-April, a crew visited and successfully identified a hidden chamber and the full course of the pipe in the private road near South Hall Close; several previous attempts to identify this had been unsuccessful. This pipework is heavily silted and cleansing is being arranged of this and the whole related network. Accessing the system is quite complex (and may need to be done in Oliver Crescent) but a job should be raised for this shortly.

At the other end of the parish, works were as I reported due to be carried out at the intersection of Button Street with the A20 in early May. The drainage system there was cleansed and no defects found. However, the soakaways on either side of the M25 bridge need emptying and there is more work to be done with specialist equipment on one drain on the junction with the A20. Officers are awaiting a full CCTV report before ordering the follow up works.

Works in Romney Street

Residents in Romney Street, Knatts Valley (in Shoreham parish) have long been affected by the works being undertaken by Serenity Parks Ltd to create a new residential park (Kingsdown Meadow Residential Park) on the site of the former Romney Street Caravan Park. Most of the issues raised by this are not within the remit of Kent County Council; however, where there are concerns related to KCC (invariably highways matters) I have worked with officers to try to find the best solution.

This included kerbing works in February to reduce flooding risk to a number of properties, and most recently road resurfacing which Serenity carried out in Romney Street this week. Residents had raised concerns over how the works would be carried out and in particular the status of the verge opposite the entrance to Kingsdown Meadow, which has been worn down and become in effect a parking bay. Serenity were committed to reinstating the verge.

Kent Highways officers have kept in close touch and visited to confirm that the works have proceeded as planned; as the picture demonstrates, the outcome appears positive with a good road surface and the verge area marked out for reinstatement.

Footway surface improvements in Sounds Lodge

Surface improvement works on the footways in Sounds Lodge, Crockenhill, will be carried out in the coming weeks. The surfaces, which have been showing signs of wear and deterioration, will be treated by 'slurry sealing'.

The works will be undertaken in two phases. The first stage, starting on 20 May and lasting for three days, will affect nearby grass verges and also power washing of the footway surface. In the second stage, lasting three days from 15 June, a new surface treatment will be applied. In both cases the works will take place between 8 am and 5 pm.  The paths should be able to be opened up within an hour or so of the new surface being applied.

Eynsford Road flooding: still more to do

The small section of Eynsford Road set back from the main A225 and near the junction with Farningham High Street has been subject to flooding problems for many years. I have been trying to get the matter resolved and have written about it here before. Kent County Council drainage engineers have been working on the site on a number of occasions over the last two years and I have been present at a number of site meetings.

Measures taken so far include cleaning the gullies and building up the kerb to deflect water as it comes down the hill on the main road. These have yielded some relief but have proved ineffectual when - as has been the case so often - there has been heavy rainfall.  Officers have identified the system in and around South Hall Close as a likely source of the continuing problem, and have sought to investigate it. However, it has proved hard to investigate a drainage system  running through private land and which has been altered in the past without these alterations having been documented. 

Between January and early March, KCC spent a total of seven days excavating the unregistered lane to locate the pipe. However, it could not be found, leading the Drainage Engineer to believe that at some point a section of it may have been removed. A new job has been raised to return to site and excavate in South Hall Close, where the pipe is undoubtedly still in existence and to work back from there. Once engineers can see what has happened to the pipe, whether it has been removed or redirected, they can then plan how to reconnect it with the existing system. This work should be carried out within the next 28 days - subject, of course, to the possible impact on contractors of staff sickness or absence in self-isolation because of Covid-19.

Residents in Eysnford Road have had to endure many years of flood problems, and recent severe weather has made the problem more acute. Hopefully, the changes to the paperwork can be identified and a solution found.

Yellow lines for Tylers Green Road

Residents of Tylers Green Road have long raised with me concerns over dangerous parking, especially at one of the main bends in the road, and asked for yellow lines to be installed. Kent Highways and Sevenoaks District Council took some persuading, but after a site visit to Crockenhill last year (addressing a range of Highways issues), they concluded that the yellow lines were needed.

After consultation (which met with no objections) Kent Highways undertook to deliver the lining and I am pleased to say that this week the lines were painted. It has taken some time, but this must bear good development for residents of Tylers Greeen Road.

Swanley Village, the M25 and much else

In the search to address the problem of flooding in Button Street, attention has been focused increasingly on the M25 bridge and runoff from it.

I took this up with Kent Highways officers, who have subsequently been in discussions with Connect Plus (who operate this part of the M25 on behalf of Highways England). There was a recognition from Connect Plus that many of the HE drainage ditches have not been maintained and are blocked or overflowing. They undertook to clear them, and extensive works on this took place a couple of weeks ago. The pictures here show some of these works and the debris that has been cleared out.

There will now be monitoring of runoff from the bridge to see the effects of this welcome work by Connect Plus. If it does not prove effective in stopping the runoff, then the drainage teams from Connect Plus and Kent Highways will meet to examine the detailed drainage structures in the area to see what more radical works need to be undertaken.

These seem to be positive developments, and came at a time when I met representatives from the Residents Association with a Kent Highways officer to review other key road and traffic issues in the village, including speeds in the centre of the village, HGVs, signage and other concerns. More to report on that soon.