Shoreham's road closure and the 421 bus

Earlier in the summer concerns were raised with me about the change in route through Shoreham of the 421 bus, operated by Go Coach. This route is subsidised by KCC.  The bus ceased to go along the High Street and turn at Mill Lane, instead picking up at the junction of Church Street and High Street. Go Coach felt that the narrowness and presence of parked cars along High Street made it impossible to stick to its schedule and insisted that it remained committed to a service in Shoreham.

Fresh concerns have now arisen because of a closure of Station Road at the railway bridge, starting on 15 September and projected to last for seven weeks. This is for Network Rail works to be carried out on the bridge - but among other things it blocks the route currently taken by Go Coach into the village. 

The closure is under the permit scheme, which came in a couple of years ago (Kent was a pilot for the scheme before it went national). The basic premise is that utilities and others requiring a road closure for their works have to get a permit from the highways authority (in this case KCC) to operate at and within an agreed time. However, KCC does not have powers under this to refuse permission for the works to be carried out (so long as the application is made three months before the proposed time for these works, which I understand this was). In that sense, the local authority's room for manoeuvre is quite limited. 

The seven week timetable for the works to take place is based on the experience of similar works carried out by Network Rail on a bridge elsewhere in the County. In that case it was done by only a partial road closure - however, the section of Station Road under the bridge is too narrow for that to be done here. The hope is that seven weeks is a pessimistic assumption, but it is clearly going to be quite a number of weeks. 

I have spoken with Go Coach, who  are keen to provide a continuing service for Shoreham during the time of the closure. This may require some further discussions with Kent Highways, which I will seek to ensure take place.

I will provide further updates on this issue.

Rock Hill: new channel next week

When last year's works were carried out to tackle the problem of water running down the Bromley-facing side of Rock Hill, the installation of a French drain at the top of the hill was successful in dealing with the problem in that immediate area. However, once the water got beyond  the intersection with Well Hill, it emerged from the so-called bubble gulley (which took the water under Well Hill) to run down the rest of the hill, crossing towards the former Rock and Fountain pub. This was both a problem for residents and made it likely that, come winter, the familiar problem of a slippery surface on this steep hill would recur.

A Kent Highways drainage specialist and I visited the site earlier on the summer to discuss the issue and possible solutions with a local resident. We agreed that, while installing additional drainage would be prohibitively expensive and quite possibly ineffective, it made sense to install channels on the Well Hill/ Pump Lane side to prevent the water from flowing across to the other side of the road.

The works have now been confirmed for 26 August, the day after the Bank Holiday. 70 metres of channel blocks will be laid from the gulley downwards. I understand that this will require a road closure, which will mean significant diversions.

Well Hill: filling in the potholes

Since I provided a number of updates on the abortive efforts to fill in the potholes in Well Hill, I am probably a bit behind myself in not having recorded the latest position.

The especially deep potholes in the part of Well Hill between the junctions with Firmingers Road and Parkgate Road were filled in some weeks ago. Potholes in the remaining parts of the road have been marked up by Kent Highways and the works are due to take place in the latter part of next week. This will require nothing more drastic than a diversion via Firmingers Road and so hopefully should go smoothly.

Shoreham and the Gypsy and Traveller Site Consultation

The Sevenoaks District Council consultation on proposed new Gypsy and Traveller sites closed on Friday. One of the most contentious proposals is for a 15 pitch site south of Mesne Road in Shoreham, which has been a source of major concern for local residents on grounds of unsuitability and its impact on both the village and the AONB.

I submitted my comments last week, expressing my opposition to the proposal. In part, I set out concerns shared by many about the damage done to Green Belt and AONB. However, in my role as KCC Education Cabinet Member, I also set out the problems likely to be caused to the village school. In spite of being in Special Measures, the school has been relatively well-subscribed and so the effect of a significant influx of new children in the village could well be to squeeze out others who live further away within the village or parish. You can find my comments here.

Kent Highways submitted their comments the previous week. While the submission did not sustain an objection, it incorporates two features that are very helpful to residents' case. The first is the requirement for a wide entrance to allow vehicles, some of them large, to turn in. This makes screening of the site impossible and so raises further questions about its unacceptable visual impact. Secondly, it makes clear that works would be required to deal with the steep gradient from Filston Lane up to the site. This would have clear implications for the cost of establishing the site.

A bit more on potholes

Following on from my last post, it's worth reading this press release from KCC. This sets out the cost of fixing a pothole in Kent through 'Find and a Fix' at £37, compared with a national average of £53. The Department for Transport allocated its funds to local authorities based on this 'model' approach.

The press release also sets out the number of potholes fixed in each District of Kent since the winter - in Sevenoaks, it is  2,322. I don't have a precise figure for Darent Valley, but on this basis of these figures it must run into quite a few hundred.

Kent gains from government pothole fund

Kent County Council has been awarded £6.3m from the Department for Transport's pothole fund, which allocated £168m to local authorities across the country. Kent had the second highest allocation in the country and a higher share of the fund than its population would suggest. In a fund designed to reward good and innovative practice by local authorities, this is an encouraging sign. You can find the DfT's announcement here.

This follows on from KCC gaining a disproportionate share of the March 2014 Weather Repair Fund (£8.6m out of £173m). It also comes on top of the £3m that the County Council allocated for a 'find and fix' programme in its budget in April.

Progress in fixing the roads has been rapid in recent months, and this additonal funding should help us to improve further. You can report a pothole or other highways problems on the KCC website.

Pinks Hill: the next steps

This week I met on site in Pinks Hill with local residents, our Kent Highways drainage engineer for the area and representatives from Connect Plus (delivery agents for the Highways Agency).

The ditch near the A20, which I have written about before in several posts, remains a major cause for concern. Some weeks ago it filled up rapidly and at some points overtopped. Whereas it was possible to argue that earlier this year we were in the midst of the wettest January since the days of George III, this was heavy but not outlandish levels of rain. The Highways Agency/ Connect Plus undertook significant works on the ditch following our last site meeting in January, but it remains a major worry for local residents.

We took an extensive tour of the site, including the lagoon (pictured - currently at relatively low levels but clearly subject to quite rapid fluctuations). There is further work to be done to establish the direction of flows of water between the lagoon, the ditch and the other side of the A20. Once that is completed, there is likely to be a strong case for works including expanding the lagoon. The Highways Agency were examining such a project earlier in the year, but understandably the immediate crisis took priority.

The meeting was very constructive; at the same time, it is clear that these more structural solutions to the problem will take time. Meanwhile, we will need to establish more immediate ways to protect residents from a recurrence of serious flooding through an agreed contingency plan by the Highways Agency and Kent Highways and if possible additional protection for the properties most immediately affected.