Watts Farm visit: tackling flooding in Button Street

There have been a number of causes of the flooding that has often affected Button Street in recent years, but any solution has to include avoiding run-off from Watts Farm. The farm runs alongside Button Street from close to the A20 junction up as far as Canada Heights.

The farm manager has made major efforts to tackle the problem, and on Friday morning a KCC highways engineer and I visited to see what has been done. A large lagoon has been dug at a low-lying point quite close to the road to receive a lot of the runoff from the fields. A large bund stands between it and the road.

We also visited a large ditch (pictured) that runs alongside another field. The ditch has had its problems in the past - on one occasion, a rabbit hole that was dug near it contributed to discharges into the road - but appears to be functioning well (the overnight thunder storms and heavy rain provided a useful test of its effectiveness: water had run into the ditch but there was still plenty of capacity left).

All round, this was a very encouraging visit and the farm manager is looking at plans for further drainage close to the farm' shard surfacing, which inevitably experiences heavy runoff during periods of rainfall. This would enable the lagoon to operate as a last line of defence and to serve chiefly to receive runoff from the fields.

There are, of course, other sources of flooding in Button Street, and I will continue to work with Kent Highways to resolve them.

Shoreham: more on the closure

The closure of Station Road Shoreham (see my previous post) is set to begin tomorrow.

The 421 bus service will continue to serve Shoreham, operating on a ‘double run’ basis; it will go to Otford, come back along Filston Lane and pick up at the current stop before turning round and going back up Filston Lane. This will mean that, for the period of the closure, there may be one less service per day. It will of course revert to the current timetable once the closure is finished.

A further cause for concern has been the coincidence of these works with the severe water discharges around the Filston Lane/ Church Street/ High Street junction, and in particular the question of whether tackling these problems would require an additional road closure, causing major problems for the village. 

Thames Water fixed one leak (in Church Street) some time ago, but the second leak - which originated in Filston Lane, opposite the car park, but then ran down Church Street - took longer. 

Works were however carried out just over a week ago (on Saturday 6^th September) and Thames Water will return tomorrow to complete a permanent reinstatement of the carriageway. While this is the same day as the start of the closure in Station Road, the reinstatement should be carried out using signage only.

New date for Rock Hill works

In my previous post on further drainage works to be undertaken on the Bromley-facing side of Rock Hill, I gave a date of 26 August for them to be undertaken.

Driving through Well Hill shortly afterwards, I noticed that the works had not taken place and made enquiries as to what had happened. It appears that the contractor was overloaded with other commitments and was unable to do those works on the day agreed.

Working with a new contractor, Kent Highways has agreed a new date of 22nd of September. Hopefully this should see a resolution of this long-running issue.

Eynsford resurfacing and the Kent Test

The resurfacing works in High Street in Eynsford - between the Baptist Church and Mill Lane - are due to go ahead. That is the good news.

Less good news is the timing. The works were due to be carried out over the summer holidays (post of 31 March), which would have made obvious sense. However, delays built in in getting a contract (covering a wide range of works) agreed between Kent Highways and a contractor.  The works will now take place over night on 8 and 9 September - just before the Kent Test on 10 September.

When I was alerted to this, I contacted Kent Highways in an effort to get the date moved but have to admit that this proved unsuccessful.  The resurfacing timetable is full until the arrival of winter makes it impossible to carry out works, so that moving the date is, it appears, not an option; and not carrying out the works at all would leave the road in a vulnerable condition before winter even started. 

I did seek to get some assurance that the impact would not be too disruptive on those children living nearby and about to take the Kent Test. This is, after all, already a stressful time for them and for their families. I am told that the noisiest works will take place on the first night, and in the earlier parts of the evening. It should not, I am told, be a case of loud noises going on all night, both nights. If I get further information, I will update on this blog.

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.