Shoreham School: encouraging Ofsted report

Ofsted inspectors have issued a very encouraging report on Shoreham School. This was the latest of a series of so-called Section 8 reports, which track developments at the school since it went into Special Measures late last year. Reports in December 2013 and March 2014 were relatively encouraging, but the July report - issued just before the summer holidays - was much more negative.

The latest report, based on a visit on 25-26 November, praises progress under the new head teacher, Mrs Gillian Lovatt-Young, and highlights improvements in teaching and children's progress. Having visited the school and met Mrs Lovatt-Young and the chair of governors a couple of weeks before the inspection, I picked up a sense of strong momentum under her leadership. Mrs Lovatt-Young, the governors, staff and pupils at Shoreham are all to be congratulated.

Since the summer I have visited six of the seven primary schools in Darent Valley. It is not very long since we were in a position where one (Shoreham) was in Special Measures and three (High Firs, Horton Kirby and St. Paul's) were rated as Requires Improvement (the former 'Satisfactory' rating by Ofsted, or 3 on the 1-4 scale). In July, High Firs under Colin Turtle's leadership has regained its Good rating. A visit to Horton Kirby left me hopeful that we could see a better rating there soon, and now we have this encouraging report on Shoreham. I will be visiting St. Paul's and meeting its new head in the New Year.

Overall, Kent's primary schools have demonstrated a sharp improvement in Ofsted ratings in the last few years. It is good that Darent Valley seems to be sharing in this progress.

Gateway signs go into Swanley Village

As promised earlier in the year, some key projects in Swanley Village are being paid for from my Member Fund. I told a meeting of the Swanley Village Residents Association a few weeks ago that village gateway signs should be installed before Christmas; this has happened today. Some other promised works, such as installation of high friction surfacing, should take place during the February half term. Action to remove and replace the village sign should also take place shortly.

Also in Swanley Village (though not paid for from my Fund), I understand that the gullies in Button Street from just south of the motorway bridge to the junction with Wood Street should be cleansed before the end of tomorrow.

Crockenhill: works go ahead at Green Court Road

I have worked with Crockenhill Parish Council and Kent Highways to improve safety at the junction of Cray Road, Main Road and Broadway for some years. Last year, high friction surfacing and an interactive sign were among the measures introduced, but more needs to be done. Although it seemed that we had some potential ways forward over a year ago, we have come up against the stumbling block that many of them would involve road closures that would be unacceptable to the Parish Council and to local opinion. Attempts to establish a safe crossing in the area have proved similarly difficult to take forward.

Having undertaken speed surveys in the area, we are now looking at a range of measures that would include  hanged to parking and to the interactive sign, as well as village signs. These can be paid for from money set aside from my Member a highway Fund for earlier versions of the scheme.  Meanwhile, there were a number of agreed enhancements to tackle speeding as traffic comes down to Broadway from Green Court Road that do not require a road closure, including safety fencing by the village green to highlight that pedestrians are approaching a road crossing.

Frustratingly, there have been a variety of delays and contractor problems. However, work started today to install the fencing. Additional works for which orders have been raised and which should be carried out in the near future include a SLOW sign in the road, improvements to signage and a refreshing of lines in the road around the junction. Hopefully this will be the start of further progress on tackling problems at the heart of Crockenhill.

Community wardens: responding to the consultation

Following the consultation on proposals to reshape the community warden service, reducing the number of wardens to 45, KCC announced last week that warden numbers would be kept at the present level of 70.

The County Council will still take half of the proposed saving of £1.3 million by reductions in management and supervisory structures, but the remaining funds will be found elsewhere within the Growth, Environment and Transport (GET) directorate.

This follows a powerful public response to the consultation, making clear how much the warden service is valued by communities across Kent. The response was particularly strong from Parish Councils; almost all of those within Darent Valley responded to the consultation.

At the start of the process, I said to Parish Councils that the consultation was for real rather than a sham process. Last week's announcement confirms that, and is good news for the wardens and for the communities they serve across the County.

Over to Nicky Morgan

A year ago, we were waiting for then Education Secretary Michael Gove to rule on the two applications for a grammar annexe in Sevenoaks. Now it is down to his successor, Nicky Morgan, to rule on a new application from the Weald of Kent Grammar School Academy Trust.

As was widely reported last week – in the Sevenoaks Chronicle, but also in the national press – Weald of Kent has submitted an application for a 3 Forms of Entry girls grammar school annexe on the former Wildernesse School site. At KCC we have worked closely with Weald of Kent regarding their application, notably through our projections of the growing need for West Kent grammar school places.

There are many positive indications for this application. It is true that Weald of Kent was - along with Valley Invicta Academies Trust - one of the unsuccessful applicants last year. Both applications were, however, for a coeducational annexe, and this issue - that a single sex school setting up a coeducational annexe was seen to be in effect creating a new grammar school - was at the heart of Michael Gove's decision to turn the applications down. At the same time, the Department for Education made clear that the high proportion of students that Weald of Kent draws from Sevenoaks was a powerful argument for viewing their proposed grammar provision as an annexe.

In the meantime, the grammar annexe secured planning permission (from KCC's Planning Applications Committee) in the summer, and work is getting under way to demolish the existing buildings on the Wildernesse site and then start work on the buildings for the Trinity Free School, which will share use of the site with the proposed grammar annexe.

In the longer term, our aim remains to secure boys' provision in the site as well, but Weald of Kent's application is a very welcome step - a strong proposal from an outstanding Kent grammar school. What remains now is the Secretary of State's decision. KCC and Sevenoaks MP Michael Fallon have urged that the decision should be a speedy one.

Shoreham: part of the way on village gateways

When I organised a walk round Shoreham with Kent Highways officers two years ago, one of the key proposals to emerge was for a clearer indication to drivers that they were entering a village.

Officers brought forward schemes to be paid for from my Member Highway Fund, including both village gateway signs and red high friction surfacing (usually with 'SLOW' or '30 MPH' painted into it) at various points in the village.

When these proposals were brought back to the Parish Council and others, there was limited enthusiasm for the village signs. Some were in favour of rumble strips as a further way of demarcating entry to the village and influencing driver behaviour, but views on this were mixed. I therefore proposed that we go ahead with the element of the proposal on which there was very widespread agreement (the high friction surfacing). This was completed a couple of weeks ago. It has all taken rather longer than I would have liked, but it is a step forward nonetheless.

There is likely to be a village meeting early in the New Year (under the auspices of the Shoreham Society) to discuss highways issues. This will give an opportunity to examine whether some of the other proposals should be taken forward.

KCC Budget Consultation until 28 November

KCC is consulting on its annual budget. As was the case last year, the key feature is the need to find savings as a result of declining goverment grants and increasing demand for some of our services.

Over the last three years, Kent County Council has achieved £269m in savings (this compares with a net budget of a little under £1bn). It will need to achieve a similar annual rate - some £81m - in the next financial year (2014-15). Proposals have been set out that bridge most, though not quite all, of this gap. It is clear that, with the public sector remaining under the austerity cosh for years to come as central government seeks to eliminate the budget deficit, and with local government taking its fair share and quite a lot more of the savings pain, more will need to be found (some £209m over the next three years).

The County Council aims to meet its financial pressures partly through the Facing the Challenge programme, which sees the authority as above all a commissioner of services, looking for the most efficient way for those services to be provided (whether by the council itself, by the private sector, the voluntary sector or others). In addition, it is carrying through major programmes of change ('transformation') in social services, both for adults and (more recently) children; this also links to our increasingly close relationship with the health service, in which I am deeply involved. We are proposing a small council tax increase of 1.99%. Finally, while we have successfully minimised the impact of the savings programmes on front line services, some difficult changes are being proposed, as with the consultation on community wardens.

You can find the budget consultation here; it is open until 28 November. You can answer three short questions on how you would like KCC to meet the budget challenge, or can go into more detail in setting priorities though an online budget tool. You can also find a short summary of the budget situation by KCC Leader Paul Carter and a webchat with Cabinet Member for Finance John Simmonds, which took place last Friday. Last year saw a big increase in public response to our budget consultation, and I hope that many Darent Valley residents will take part this year.  

Making Kent (and Darent Valley) Quicker

As described in an earlier post, Kent County Council has been working for some years to bring faster broadband to those parts of the county - around a quarter of properties - that will not benefit from the unaided commercial development of the network. In my previous Cabinet role at KCC I oversaw our agreement last year with government agency BDUK and BT and I remain involved in our monitoring of that programme and our development of new broadband initiatives.

Last year's agreement - part of the 'Making Kent Quicker' scheme - involved a £40 million investment (£10 million of it from KCC) to ensure that at least 91% of Kent properties had access to superfast broadband - defined as download speeds of 24 Megabits per second (MBpS) or faster - and that all properties had access to at the very least 2 MBpS in the project area. This would bring superfast broadband to over 120,000 properties across Kent and be concluded by the end of 2015. The main method of achieving this is to bring fibre to each of the BT cabinets that you will see dotted around the area by adding an extra cabinet next to the existing one.

By the end of September, more than 50,000 properties had been covered by the scheme. More immediately relevant to Darent Valley residents, Sevenoaks District was within Phase 2 of the scheme that ran from March to September, i.e. it has just been concluded. The Farningham exchange, serving much of the Division, was one of the later exchanges in the District to be enabled to supply fibre to the cabinets it serves, but this took place in early September.

You can check out the position for your own home using the postcode checker onwww.kent.gov.uk/broadband  This is updated very rapidly after fibre is brought to each cabinet, so the information should be very current. You will then need to contact your Internet Service Provider to upgrade. Some of the most remote areas may not have been covered in this phase but will be part of a final, County-wide phase in the latter part of 2015.

Longer term, there will be a Phase 2 to Making Kent Quicker, to which central government and KCC are each committing £5.6 million with the aim of achieving at least 95% superfast coverage by the end of 2017. It is anticipated that the contract for this will be awarded in April 2015. BDUK are currently developing a Phase 3 programme to tackle the most difficult areas of all ('the final 5%').Kent is a national pilot area for work currently being undertaken by BDUK, to trial new technologies, which will inform these plans to achieve full coverage. 

Pinks Hill: update with the Highways Agency

Accompanied by Kent Highways officers, I met recently with representatives of Connect Plus and the Highways Agency. 

We reviewed the follow up to our site meeting in June. HA/ Connect Plus contractors carried out a range of short-term works (clearing vegetation, in particular around the ditch, cleansing bore holes) earlier in the year and this will be repeated at the time of the usual cycle of maintenance on the lagoon next spring. CCTV work has been carried out to understand flows to and from the lagoon, though more remains to be done to build up the complete picture that is needed to establish the works that will be needed to enhance the lagoon's capacity. These works are likely to involve increasing the overall size of the lagoon and/or adding another deep borehole, but this will be confirmed once the further CCTV works are carried out.

The Highways Agency will shortly be issuing its new severe weather plan, on which Pinks Hill will be identified as a vulnerable location. This should aid the prospect of securing funding for the lagoon works, building on previous plans that were drawn up before last winter's floods. It will also ensure a more timely response in secondary resources attending Pinks Hill.

In the more immediate term, Kent Highways and HA/Connect Plus are agreeing a protocol to deal with crises over the coming winter. It is helpful that both sides use Hydrocleanse for a range of services, such as supplying tankers and carrying out CCTV surveys. It was therefore agreed that residents should be advised to use Kent Highways as their first point of contact; Kent Highways will then dispatch Hydrocleanse tankers and funding will be sorted out between Kent Highways and HA/ Connect Plus afterwards. The soakaway by London Road has enormous capacity and can be used to discharge from tankers.

A process map, setting out the roles and responsibilities of all parties, has been drawn up and agreed.

There is also a need to protect specific properties. Kent Highways is raising an order for bunding work to protect the properties opposite the ditch. Residents will be asked nonetheless to contact Kent Highways if the ditch is threatening to overflow, since there will then be a need to bring tankers into the area before the Kent Highways drainage is overloaded and other parts of the estate are threatened. Kent Highways will also act to deal with other vulnerable individual properties. 

Eynsford's Public Art Trail gets under way

 

A happy task this morning: a group of us met outside Anthony Roper Primary School to unveil a mosaic of the buildings and wildlife of Eynsford. There were villagers, parents, representatives of the Eynsford Village Society, the Parish Council and the school (including both the Head Teacher, Lynda Newton, and the head boy and head girl, who jointly unveiled the artwork). This is the first part of a public art trail that the Eynsford Village Society aims to establish throughout the village.

The work is a colourful glass mosaic designed by the school art TA Janet Murray and the mosaic artist Oliver Budd with the help of children at the school.  It looks terrific in its place at the old 'Out' gate of the school, drawing together images of the village. Congratulations are due to to Sally Coston and EVS for leading this project to completion; a second artwork is expected by the spring, and there should be more to follow in the coming years. I was delighted to be able to support this project with £1,000 from my Combined Member Fund - and to join a number of those taking part in an excellent breakfast in the Riverside Tea Rooms immediately afterwards.

Road issues in Horton Kirby and South Darenth

I recently joined a meeting of the Parish Council, District Council, Kent Highways officers, The Mill management company and others to discuss a range of traffic and highways problems in Horton Kirby and South Darenth.

In addition to the parking issues discussed and picked up by Sevenoaks District Council, we also addressed the continuing and problematic presence of HGVs in parts of the village; on this I undertook to check on the ongoing work that KCC does with the SatNav companies, as well as looking into 'Not Suitable for HGV' signs.

Kent Highways has undertaken to remove the unwanted rumble strip outside Gifford Cottages. There is also a wish to replace the temporary bollards there with something more permanent. I am looking into the possibility of covering that - possibly co-financed with others - from my Combined Member Fund.

Finally, we are looking again at speed surveys, notably on Dartford Road (for which there has been a petition to reduce the speed limit) as well as reviewing the results of past surveys that I paid for from my (then) Member Highway Fund.

Community Warden Service consultation

KCC has launched a consultation on the future of its Community Warden service. The wardens have been a popular and successful innovation in the parts of the county that they have served since they were introduced in 2002. Much of Darent Valley is well served by wardens, tackling low-level crime and antisocial behaviour, working with the police and other agencies and engaging with many of the most vulnerable members of local communities.

Nonetheless, there are communities that do not benefit from the warden service, while we also need to make significant savings. Our community warden service has been asked to deliver savings of nearly £1.3 million.

The consultation document proposes a reduction in management structures; among other changes, team leaders will be reduced in number from 12 to 6, with each one overseeing two Districts. Each will oversee a network of 6 or 7 wardens who will work across the area. While wardens will no longer be attached to specific parishes, parishes will still get a regular service from them, as will urban and other areas that have not so far been covered. It is proposed to reduce the number of wardens from 79 to 40. KCC is also looking at the possibility of external funding for warden posts in some areas and building up volunteer support for the wardens.

These are important proposals for a valued service. If you would like to comment on the plans, the consultation is open until 9 November. No formal decision will be taken until then. You can comment by completing an online questionnaire, or by completing a hard copy version of the questionnaire and sending it in to:

FREEPOST RTKS-UABE-USGJ
Community Warden Service
Invicta House
Maidstone
Kent
ME14 1XX

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.

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.

Grammar school places for Darent Valley children

Many children from Darent Valley, especially to the north, have gone to the Dartford and Wilmington grammar schools for their secondary schooling. It has always therefore been a cause of concern that some or all of the schools might move to admission procedures that would be less favourable to local children, such as a focus on ‘super-selection’ (essentially, taking children simply on the basis of the highest test scores) or strengthening the focus on distance rather than named parishes, which would in some cases favour children from across the London border in Bexley over many Kent children.

The issue has been rumbling on for some years, with proposals brought forward, shelved and brought forward again. The County Council has a strong interest in this, given its responsibility to ensure access to education for Kent children, and our Admissions Team have worked hard on the issue, responding to proposals and arguing the case for local children. I have been involved both as local County Councillor for Darent Valley and, in the last year, as Cabinet Member for Education. All the schools have brought forward proposals for 2015. While the debate on these proposals remains live, there has on the whole been movement in a positive direction for Kent children and those from Darent Valley.  

Here is where things stand at present:

Dartford Grammar School (admission number: 180)

The school has hitherto operated a system of giving priority (after Looked After Children) to boys from a series of wards in Dartford (Zone A) who have passed the Kent Test. None of these wards is in Darent Valley. Once qualifying Zone A boys are admitted, all remaining places are allocated on the basis of test score, with distance from the school as a tie-breaker. The new proposals, which can be found here, modify this by putting a cap of 90 on the number of boys admitted from Zone A, thus strengthening somewhat the super-selective element.

Dartford Grammar School for Girls (admission number: 160) 

This currently operates the following system of priority for those who pass the Kent Test: Looked After Children; siblings of those attending the school; those living within a mile of the school; those living within the Borough of Dartford or one of a set of ‘named parishes’; all others on the basis of score, with distance as the tie-breaker. The ‘named parishes’ include Crockenhill, Eynsford, Farningham, Horton Kirby & South Darenth and Swanley from within Darent Valley. New proposals can be found here. As with Dartford Grammar, the new proposals would cap the number from 'named parishes' at 100. They would also remove preference for siblings and those within a mile of the school.

Wilmington Grammar School for Boys (admission number: 150)

This gave priority to: Looked After Children; those with a sibling at the school; those with a sibling at Wilmington Girls; those with combined scores in the top 10%; those nearest the school. The revised criteria for 2015 can be found here; they preserve the priority for Looked After Children and siblings at the two schools, but then add 15 governor places for those achieving the highest combined scores in the Kent Test, followed by priority for those within 1.5 miles of the school or in named parishes which cover the whole of the Darent Valley division (including Shoreham). Any remaining places are allocated on a distance criterion.

Wilmington Grammar School for Girls (admissions number: 120)

This was very similar to the boys, prioritising Looked After Children; those with a sibling at the school; those with a sibling at Wilmington Boys; the top 12 scoring girls in Mathematics; those living nearest the school. The 2015 proposals are very similar to the new proposals for Wilmington Boys. The 12 Governor Places will be the awarded to those with the highest Mathematics scores, while the named parishes will extend as far South as Sevenoaks, easily incorporating the whole of Darent Valley.

Thus the overall effect is that the 2015 criteria proposed for the two Wilmington grammar schools are much more favourable to Darent Valley children than those in operation up until now. The criteria for Dartford Grammar School represent a partial shift towards super-selection with some disadvantage to Kent children (in Dartford, though not in Darent Valley). The Dartford Grammar School for Girls are making a similar shift, in this case affecting Darent Valley children. However, this represents a significant modification of initial proposals that were much more purely super-selective. The number of places for named parishes was revised up in the course of consultation and is now quite generous.

I understand that the Dartford (but not Wilmington) schools' proposals have had challenges brought before the Schools Adjudicator. This may take some time to resolve, but the overall outcome for children in Darent Valley looks likely to be quite a good one.

Street lighting: the next phase

In a post late last year, I set out Kent County Council's "safe and sensible street lighting" policy, intended to deliver financial savings of £1 million per year and a reduction in carbon emissions. This started with the switching off of many streetlights between the hours of midnight and 5:30 AM, so-called "part-night lighting". This came into effect in the Sevenoaks area just before Christmas.

As I mentioned at that time, the second element of the policy was to embark on a trial full switch-off of some lights that are adjudged redundant and would not be newly installed under today's policies. During consultation, I asked for some of the proposals for the switch-off on roads in Darent Vally to be withdrawn and this was done. However, there will be some lights switched off in Darent Valley, notably on Main Road near Farningham and on Goldsel Road on the approach to Crockenhill. This will take place by the end of this month, though it will be on a trial basis.

"Part-night lighting" remains a cause for concern for some residents, notably in Swanley. I hope to meet a number of concerned residents in the near future. The policy will be reviewed in particular areas if there is evidence of a significant increase in crime or accidents that could plausibly be linked to the new policy. I understand from Kent Police that data will be available in a matter of weeks, and that it will be very detailed, going down to individual street level.

Swanley Village and the Member Highway Fund

Earlier this week I had the chance to meet and share updates with members of the Swanley Village Residents' Association committee. Among the issues we discussed were projects in the village that I have committed to supporting from my Member Highway Fund (now transforming into part of the Combined Members' Grant - but more of that at another time).

The first of these is equipment for the village Speedwatch project, which has funds allocated and is ready to go. Clearly committed volunteers are essential to making Sppeedwatch effective for the village, but in any case the kit will be there to support them.

The second is the installation of gateway signs at entry points to the village. These will comprise signs and red high friction surfacing at both the Wood Street and Highlands Hill entrances to the village. We are also looking to improve signage to deter HGVs from coming into the village, although there is still a little work to do to establish the best positions for these signs.

I am also committed to resolving the problems of the increasingly unsteady village sign at the top of School Lane, though this is proving more problematic. Kent Highways engineers have examined the sign and agreed that we must act to tackle what is an increasing safety problem. Some problems have, however, arisen in that the distinctive sign – which for many people is a symbol of the village – appears not to conform to regulations as to signs that can be placed on the highway (to be fair to Kent Highways, these are national regulations, not County rules). I will look for a solution to this conundrum - there has to be a sensible way forward.

Well Hill: what happened last week

Last week I posted an article (12 May) anticipating that pothole repairs would be carried out in Well Hill. A road closure was arranged for the section of the road south of the junction with Firmingers Road.

However, when Kent Highways staff started to close the road on Wednesday morning (14 May) they encountered considerable hostility from some drivers and ultimately withdrew from the scene. Quite apart from being shocking behaviour towards the staff, this has meant that the potholes - some of them very deep - remain.

I understand that a closure will be undertaken once more during the week commencing 2 June. This time it will be more comprehensive, covering the entire length of the road. There is considerable justification for this, since the deepest potholes are to the north of the Firmingers Road junction, though this will inevitably mean a much more extensive diversion. 

In the meantime, there will be interim patching of the potholes before the weekend.

Well Hill closure update

Further to my post last Thursday, Well Hill has indeed been closed today for pothole repairs. The details of how this will work are now rather clearer than they were at the end of last week.

The closure will be for today and tomorrow, between 0930 and 1530. It will only affect the road between the junction with Rock Hill and that with Firmingers Road, so the latter can serve as a diversion.

Some of the biggest potholes are in fact in the section heading north from the Firmingers Road junction towards Parkgate Road. However, Kent Highways have told me that they are able to work on this section without a closure, so this too should be completed today or tomorrow. It is possible that these latter works may need revisiting later in the year, but they should be good for some time.

Well Hill closed for pothole repairs on Monday

A couple of weeks ago, I reported to the AGM of the Well Hill Residents' Association. I didn't get to deliver the report in person because of long traffic delays on the M20 after the closure of the M26 as a result of a fatal accident. The report has, however, since been circulated to residents.

In this I stated that the potholes in Well Hill were due to be fixed in May. This would inevitably require a road closure. Kent Highways have now confirmed that the road will be closed next Monday, May 12, for the works to be carried out.

The email announcing this was a little unclear, since it is stated on the one side that the road would be closed in its entirety, yet also suggested Firmingers Road as a detour. I have raised a query about this and will update this post when I get clarification. The very worst potholes (picture) are in the section of the road between Firmingers Road and Parkgate Road, so it may be that the section closer to Rock Hill will be left open.

Eynsford potholes: temporary works now set for next week

It was a bit of a shock to come back from a week's holiday and discover that the temporary patching of the potholes in High Street in Eynsford had not been carried out - contrary to my firm belief at the time of my previous post on the subject.

The reason for this, it transpires, is that Southern Gas Networks secured a permit for emergency works in the same area, and the two projects could not go on at the same time. Kent Highways have been pushing to get on site, but have not been able to do so this week. However, I now understand that they should now be able to carry out the works next Tuesday.

The plan for resurfacing the road between Mill Lane and the Baptist Church in July remains unchanged.

Broadband rollout reaches Sevenoaks District

It is just over a year since Kent’s £40 million agreement with government agency BDUK and BT to bring superfast broadband to much of the county was announced (post of 18 March last year). The terms of our agreement were to bring superfast broadband (download speeds of more than 24 MBpS) to at least 91% of properties in Kent; to ensure that at least 95% of properties had access to higher-speed fibre-based broadband; and to ensure that remaining properties had access to a broadband service with at least 2MBpS download speed (and in most cases much more). All this was to be delivered by the end of 2015.

So far, the scheme has been running ahead of schedule, with the first services going live in December. From the start of April, we are in Phase 2 of the project, when the work starts in Sevenoaks – and the first services are planned to be live from September.

In addition, the government recently announced indicative allocations of its Superfast Extension Programme Fund, which totals some £250 million. This Fund aims to meet concerns that more remote rural areas will be left behind in the move to superfast broadband, by providing support for achieving at least 95% superfast coverage by 2017. Kent’s initial allocation is £5.6 million. This comes on top of Kent’s having secured £1.87 million from the (separately run) Rural Community Broadband Fund, overseen by DEFRA. This will benefit areas in four Districts, including Sevenoaks (though in the case of this particular fund it will be allocated in the south of the District to meet the scheme's eligibility criteria).

Kent has successfully been in the forefront of counties participating in the BDUK scheme for the benefit of its residents, and the latest announcements offer the prospect of still wider broadband coverage. Meanwhile, we are now at the point where the scheme becomes real for residents of Sevenoaks and of Darent Valley. You can find more information about the coverage in your local area here .

Eynsford: resurfacing the High Street

The High Street in Eynsford, especially the section outside the school, has been left in a poor state, with many large potholes, since the severe winter weather.

I have for some time been discussing with Kent Highways their proposals for tackling the problem. There have been suggestions for jet patching work pending more thoroughgoing repairs, and more recently a proposal that resurfacing work would be done in May.

Kent Highways are now proposing carrying out the works, which will require a road closure, in late July. This would take advantage of the school holidays as well as higher road temperatures at night, which will be more suitable for the material that will be used. In addition, carrying out the works in July will yield a significant financial saving by comparison with May -  a material consideration when the resurfacing budget for Sevenoaks is stretched pretty thin.

The section to be resurfaced will run southwest from the junction with Mill Lane to the Baptist Church. Temporary repairs will be carried out in the meantime to improve the surface for road users prior to the full resurfacing. While there may be concerns that temporary patching is inefficient, my understanding is that the cost invoked is much smaller than the saving yielded by carrying out the main resurfacing work in July.

As of this evening, the holes that need temporary patching have been marked out with white lines. These short-term works should be carried out within seven working days.

Weald of Kent consultation: a setback, but options remain

Towards the end of last week, the Governors of the Weald of Kent Grammar School reported back to parents and staff, while also writing to Kent County Council, about the results of their consultation on the school moving to becoming co-educational (post of 11 March).

Following a response from parents that showed limited support for the move to co-educational status, the Governors decided to step back from this proposal. This has clear implications for the Sevenoaks grammar annexe, since back in December the Education Secretary's sticking point had been that WoK's (and Invicta's) earlier proposals had been for a co-educational annexe in Sevenoaks, with the original schools remaining single sex - which, in the eyes of the DfE, meant that what was proposed was a new grammar school, prohibited under current legislation.

Nonetheless, the Governors also stated that they remained strongly interested in provision in Sevenoaks, and wished to work with KCC and others to find alternative ways forward.

There are two main possibilities. The first is to address the concern, felt by many Weald parents, that the creation of a 6FE (Forms of Entry) coeducational annexe in Sevenoaks, while moving the existing 6FE of girls provision in Tonbridge on to a coeducational basis, would create large-scale extra provision (an additional 6FE) for boys in West Kent, but none for girls. KCC's view was that this would not necessarily be the case - coeducational schools do not always split 50-50 on gender lines - but this concern must nonetheless be addressed more fully and systematically than hitherto.

Secondly, it might be possible for WoK to expand its girls provision on the Sevenoaks site, and look for another school as a partner in providing boys' places. Many of these options were examined when - before I took on the Education portfolio - KCC discussed the Sevenoaks issue with grammar schools across West Kent. Nonetheless, it is well worth pursuing again.

Thus, as I emphasised in the media interviews I gave on Friday, the news from WoK undoubtedly represents a setback for the proposals for a Sevenoaks grammar annexe, but it is most certainly not the end of the road.

Sevenoaks grammar annexe: Weald of Kent co-ed consultation

Weald of Kent Grammar School is consulting on becoming co-educational. The consultation closes on 21 March.

Just before Christmas, Education Secretary Michael Gove turned down the proposals from Weald of Kent and Invicta Grammar Schools for establishing a Sevenoaks grammar annexe (post of 13 December). A key factor in his thinking was that both were single sex schools, and that it was therefore impossible to see the proposed coeducational facility in Sevenoaks as anything other than establishment of a new school.

Clearly the Weald's consultation, if it leads to the school becoming co-educational, offers a way of answering the Secretary of State's concerns. There is still a long way to go in terms of the Sevenoaks grammar annexe, not least the planning process for the Wildernesse site, but this is nonetheless a very welcome development in the efforts to tackle the shortage of selective places in West Kent and the anomaly of the lack of Sevenoaks provision.

Swanley Sitrep

With further heavy rainfall and flooding taking place, I went to look at the situation in Pinks Hill, Waylands and adjoining roads both last night and again this morning.

Last night, water was once more flowing from the ditch by the A20 across the common land into Pinks Hill and down to Waylands. Once more, the cul de sac in Waylands was heavily inundated, though the water had not quite reached the houses. I asked Kent Highways for both extra flood sacks for the most immediately affected houses in Pinks Hill and for tankers for taking action on the ditch and for Waylands. The flood sacks certainly arrived; I am a lot less sure about the tankers.

This morning, the situation had eased considerably in terms of water runoff, but the ditch itself was very full. I spoke to some local residents and some Highways Agency contractors who were carrying out some cleansing of the (Kent Highways) road drains.

What is a lot less clear is what will happen with the works in the ditch. There is little doubt that the ditch is filling up from another source, whether the A20 itself, the lagoon or sources to the other side of the A20. What is much less clear is what the precise root of that inflow is, and whether and how the current works - which appear in any case to have been suspended - will ease this. I am asking for answers to these questions from the HA.

Pinks Hill flooding: the misery continues

Water running onto Pinks Hill at about 3PM

Yet again, heavy rainfall in the latter part of the week has caused severe flooding in Pinks Hill and neighbouring roads. I visited again this afternoon and toured the site with some local residents.

The flow of water on to Pinks Hill was very rapid, though I understand somewhat less so than was the case this morning. In that case it must have been an absolute torrent earlier in the day. The water continues to run from the ditch next to the A20 across the common land to Pinks Hill. Nearby homes are currently protected by flood sacks. The water then runs down the road, diverting into Waylands. However, the water there has been contained and I understand that both Kent Highways and the Highways Agency have been on site with suckers and tankers.

The Highways Agency was due to start work on the ditch and pipes that run from it on Thursday (post of 27 January). This work did commence, though so far it appears to have been limited to tree clearing. The ditch is now very full of water indeed, across a wider area and at a much higher level than I have seen before. With this depth of water, it is not clear how and when the works can be taken forward.

High water levels in the ditch

We also examined the A20 lagoon and found it to be at a worryingly high level. The Highways Agency installed a pump there yesterday, though thus did not appear to be running when we visited.

Residents have asked that the ditch be pumped out to stop the flow of water at its source. I have asked Kent Highways to do this, although it is not clear when the optimal time would be to carry out pumping.

This is now turning into a matter of enormous concern and frustration for residents. It appeared after our site visit that we had a way forward; we now need to establish whether we have simply seen our course of action delayed by the very severe downpours of the last couple of days, or whether that way forward is no longer valid. If the latter is the case, we urgently need another.

£2.5 million extra for potholes

Kent's roads have inevitably taken serious damage during the recent floods and heavy rainfall. In recent years, the County Council has launched 'find and fix' initiatives to tackle potholes as we emerge from winter. Now KCC has allocated an extra £2.5 million from reserves for an immediate programme of pothole repairs.

Kent Highways will aim to fix potholes rapidly once they are reported. The best thing to do is to report a pothole online. Details of how to do it, and of the detail of KCC's initiative, can be found in this press release.

Update on Swanley flooding

Residents in Pinks Hill and other neighbouring roads such as Waylands were once more affected by flooding overnight and into today. I visited the area again during the late morning to see the state of the problem.

On Friday afternoon, the Highways Agency told me that they had a gulley sucker on standby for the area, and I know that both HA and Kent Highways staff were in attendance during the night. Nonetheless, the impact on residents has still been severe.

More encouragingly, the HA also told me that everything was lined up for the planned works on the ditch and pipes that should drain the runoff from the A20 (see post of 27 January) to start next Thursday, 6 February.

Broom Hill: Inspector's decision goes against residents

Last year saw an appeal by the developers ProVision against Sevenoaks District Council's refusal of permission for four applications for between 20 and 61 houses on the Broom Hill site. Residents of. Beechenlea Lane were deeply concerned about the proposals, fearing a major impact in terms of traffic, noise and a change in the character of the area in which they live, often for many years. I worked with residents in support of their stance and spoke at the second leg of the Inquiry in October (posts of 24 February and 8 October).

Late last week, the Inspector handed down his verdict, which was solidly in favour of the developer's appeals on all four applications. This is a bitter disappointment to local people, who feel that they have lost out on everything. Reading the Inspector's Decisions, it is clear that the new National Planning Policy. Framework (NPPF) weighed heavily in the Inspector's thinking. So did the lack of formal protections on the land; it was taken out of Green Belt 20 years ago, though never with the intention on the part of Sevenoaks District Council of its being subject to residential development.

The full Decisions report can be found here.

Site meeting to tackle Pinks Hill flooding

In the latter part of last week, I had a phone call from a senior manager at the Highways Agency to discuss the problems on the High Firs estate, especially Pinks Hill (post of 19 January). He told me that the Highways Agency and contractors would be on site shortly to examine issues with the ditch that takes water runoff from the A20 to the lagoon nearby. We subsequently agreed that this could provide the basis for a site meeting involving the Highways Agency, KCC/ Kent Highways and local residents. That meeting, which I attended, took place this morning.

Contrary to my earlier belief, the lagoon appears to be working satisfactorily. Significant works were undertaken in 2009, adding a large borehole to enhance the runoff and soaking away of water; it is equipped for everything up to a 1 in 100 years storm. However, there are clearly significant problems with the ditch. Fencing surrounding the ditch is in poor condition and a great deal of debris has been dumped near the entrance to the pipe that takes the water to the lagoon. Result: the pipe has become blocked, water builds up near the pipe and entrance and then runs down the ditch to exit at its lowest point, near the common land where heavy flows of water have been observed.

The Highways Agency's contractor was on site as well this morning and will undertake extensive works on the pipe (as well as the course of the ditch itself, to prevent water overflowing at the point where it currently does). This should be within the next two weeks; I will update with another post. Over the longer term, there is need to confirm ownership of the fence (Kent Highways undertook to check this) and ensure that it is reinforced. This might not stop debris being dumped there, but it would surely help.

There are a number of other issues to be taken forward, including the buildup of water that has taken place rather higher up on the common ground; this appears to have contributed to the flooding then days ago, and there is still a lot of stagnant water there. Kent Highways undertook to examine its drainage network in the area to see if there is any linkage to this problem, and to examine a number of drainage issues related to individual properties.

Altogether, a very positive site meeting with clear actions coming out of it. I will post updates as and when we have further news, but hopefully this will offer some relief for residents. The most immediate concern is that the works cannot take place immediately, so that problems could recur with further heavy rain in the coming days. Kent Highways has undertaken to provide further flood sacks later today.

Salt bins in Swanley and South Darenth

I continue to fund a number of salt bins across the Darent Valley Division from my Member Highway Fund. Late last week, accompanied by a Kent Highways officer, I set out to resolve some details as to how best this should be done on sites in Swanley and South Darenth.

In Pinks Hill, I had agreed to fund a salt bin towards the lower end of the road, which is not as well served as the higher reaches and which includes a small turning area used by many families as a cut through on their way to High Firs School. The difficulty was that Highways officers could not locate a satisfactory site (not blocking the pavement, not killing grass, etc.) that was close to where residents wanted it to go. However, a brief site meeting with some local residents yielded a satisfactory compromise: the bin will move from its current location (close to the site of the recent and ongoing flooding) somewhat further down the road.

On to South Darenth, where a bin sited in Towers Wood (pictured) was positioned satisfactorily as far as some residents were concerned (and serves rather well residents in neighbouring Coopers Close). However, there was also a strong wish for the bin to be of more use at the top end of the road, near the approach to the garages. Another site meeting (by which time the rain was setting in), and we agreed that the existing bin will stay in place while a new one will be installed at the top of the road.

While in South Darenth, my Highways colleague and I took a look at the situation in New Road, which often suffers badly in snowy and icy conditions. The road is steep, but unlike East Hill, which runs in parallel to it, it is not classified as a secondary route. I have already funded one new bin, which has gone in near The Queen pub, but there remains a strong case for another bin closer to the junction with Horton Road - the difficulty being finding a space where it does not block the pavement. My Highways colleague and I found a possible space by a footpath, though that will require one of the older style, narrower bins. Hopefully this can be taken forward and this will be of help to residents of East Hill.

Budget 2014-15 goes to Cabinet

KCC's Cabinet, of which I am a member, will tomorrow consider the budget proposals for 2014-15. If approved, these proposals will then go to the meeting of the full County Council on 13 February.

The budget will be set under conditions of continuing austerity, which are unlikely to lift for some years. KCC has had to deliver savings of £269 million over the last three years, i.e. around £90 million per year on an annual net budget of a little over £900 million. We will need to make savings on a similar scale over the next three years, and grants from central government are likely to go on reducing until the end of the decade.

The bulk of this will be met through reductions in expenditures; back in the autumn, KCC set out in the autumn its plans for transformation of the authority's activities, through a focus on prevention rather than services that simply react to problems, enhanced productivity and the very best practice for procuring services.

However, after three years of council tax freezes, we are also proposing a modest increase (1.99%) in council tax. This is not something that we undertake lightly; however, a tax increase on this scale yields £10 million in extra revenue and so makes a useful contribution to closing the budget gap while protecting services to the greatest possible extent. From the autumn we undertook a public consultation that generated much higher response rates than in the past, and while a significant portion of opinion (around a quarter of respondents) was opposed to any increase, some 71% supported some level of tax increase to protect front line services.

You can find the Cabinet papers, including the Budget Book and medium Term Financial plan, here.

Flooding on the High Firs estate

Ever since the heavy downpour on the night of 23-24 December, residents of the High Firs estate, and in particular those living in parts of Pinks Hill, have been subject to severe flooding. The water has run over common land to the rear of a some houses on Pinks Hill, affecting both the houses and the road. The problem has recurred with each significant rainfall.

I have been on site several times and have spoken to a number of residents; Kent Highways have attended the scene, as have other agencies, notably the Fire and Rescue Service. The problem, however, has proved intractable and a cause of huge distress to residents. Events took a turn for the worse on Thursday night, when there was another downpour. A row of sandbags were put in place to protect the Pinks Hill properties, diverting the water down the road and into Waylands. A number of storm drains were opened with the intention of draining the water off. However, parts of the road, and in particular the cul de sac section of Waylands, were under quite deep water - as the picture, which I took when I visited on Friday evening, attests.

The main difficulty has been to establish the root cause of the flooding, though it is thought widely that it may well be overflow from the nearby Highways Agency lagoon, which is designed to capture runoff from the A20. If the lagoon is full, or is for any other reason unable to take the water running from the main road, then the water has nowhere to go but over the common land and into Pinks Hill.

The lagoon has a history of problems. Over a year ago, I worked with Kent Highways officers to check with the Highways Agency that adequate maintenance was taking place (silting up of the lagoon had been a cause of flooding in the past). The situation appeared to be under control (post of 23 October 2012), and it may well be that, even if the lagoon is the source of the flooding, this may be nothing to do with lack of maintenance - for example, the lagoon may simply not be big enough to take the current volumes of water. In any case, this is what needs to be established.

Highways Agency staff have been on site on a number of occasions, but what is clearly needed is a fuller and more systematic discussion of the problem than has so far been possible. Many residents want a site meeting with all the key parties present, and that is what is needed. I will continue to press to get one in place.