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.

Consultation on Preston Hill and Country Parks Strategy in 2017

As I reported earlier this year, Kent County Council had considered a number of smaller Country Park sites, among them Preston Hill, for disposal. However, this was quickly - and rightly - reconsidered. In addition, the sites, which had been transferred to KCC's Property Division, came back to the Country Parks team.

The County Council will be consulting in the New Year on its renewed strategy for country parks. As part of this, it has written to anyone who expressed a view on the future of these smaller sites, asking them to contribute to the consultation. This will include any suggestions about the future of specific sites. Letters have also been sent to Parish Councils.

The letter states that groups such as wildlife charities have expressed an interest in becoming more involved in the running of the sites, which is very welcome. They will, however, remain under the overall stewardship of the County Council.

JTB approves schemes for Crockenhill and Eynsford

The Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board, of which I am a member, met on Tuesday evening. Among the items on the agenda were two schemes that I am supporting through my Combined Member Fund. They are:

• In Crockenhill, double yellow lines on Green Court Road, running north east from the junction with Stones Cross Road
• In Eynsford, on the A225 High Street near the Anthony Roper Primary School, restrictions during school run times outside Alton Cottages, and ashort extension of the double yellow line is near the Priory Lane  junction

You can find the meeting papers here; the two schemes are reported under agenda item 8. The report summarised the outcome of consultations on the two schemes. There were only two objections to the Eynsford proposal, and none to the Crockenhill proposal. Both schemes were therefore approved, and should proceed in the near future -  which should be very good news for both villages. 

Trial rumble strips in Crockenhill

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Kent Highways, Crockenhill Parish Council and I agreed at a site meeting in October to carry out a trial installation of rumble strips approaching the Cray Road/ Main Road/ Broadway junction. These will be tested out to see whether or not they provide a suitable alternative to granite sets as part of the safety measures in the centre of the village.

The trial strips have now been installed; residents are asked to send comments to the Parish Council or to me. A decision on how to proceed will be taken early in the New Year.

There should be more news on road safety measures soon, since yellow line schemes in Eynsford and Crockenhill are going to the Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board tomorrow evening. I will report back.

Still time to respond to KCC budget consultation

With the Chancellor giving his Autumn statement next week, there is still time for residents to respond to Kent County Council's consultation on its budget for 2017-18. The consultation, launched five weeks ago, closes on 27 November.

Like many other councils, KCC has been under severe financial pressure for quite a number of years, chiefly because of sharp reductions in government grant at a time when areas such as social care for the elderly have increasing need. It is quite a thought that KCC has delivered savings of £514 million – more than half a billion pounds – since 2010.

For 2017-18, the Council faces a financial gap of £108 million. It is - reluctantly - proposing an increase in council tax of 3.99% (including a 2% ‘precept’ for social care), but even after this has to deliver savings of £80.4 million. Our consultation focuses on how to deliver this; so far around £75 million has been identified and proposed.

You can respond to the consultation here.

Community Wardens for the villages

When Steve Armstrong, the highly-regarded Community Warden for Crockenhill, Eynsford and Farningham retired earlier this year, the County Council committed to finding a replacement as soon as possible. At the same time, it was recognised that the recruitment needed to be undertaken along with a number of other appointments to the Warden service. Until this took place, other Wardens covering the Sevenoaks area would serve the three villages on a rotational basis.

This recruitment round has now taken place. All the advertised posts were filled; however, the person appointed to Crockenhill, Eynsford and Farningham had to withdraw at a late stage. It has therefore, regrettably, not been possible to fill the post at present. However, Paul Sharrad, the new Warden for Swanley, will now also cover Crockenhill (as well as Swanley Village and Hextable) as and when required. Similarly, Paul Robertson – who is very well-known in Darent Valley as the Warden for Shoreham, as well as covering Otford - will cover Eynsford and Farningham when required. Thus all the villages should get more frequent and more personal coverage than has been the case since Steve’s retirement.

KCC hopes to fill the vacancy in the next recruitment round. However, the interim solution proposed by the Service should provide a valuable enhancement to the Warden presence in the three villages.