Reduce the length and disruption of roadworks in Swanley! 

As your Kent County Councillor for Swanley & Hextable, I am acutely aware of the disproportionate amount of inconvenience caused when utility companies operate in our area and don’t ‘play by the rules’.

Roadworks, which seem to becoming a weekly occurrence on Swanley and Hextable’s local roads, are causing havoc and severely disrupting people’s ability to go about their daily lives, and having a detrimental effect on Swanley businesses. 

Utilities play an important role in our lives – we rely on electricity, gas, water and broadband, and we would soon complain if maintenance wasn’t done, and we lost access to any of these core services. 

However, what is clear, is that on many occasions, utility companies appear to treat our residents with disdain - closing down entire carriageways for up to 72hrs before any sign of workmen appear - and then once the work is completed, having the same laissez-faire attitude to dismantling the temporary traffic management systems and barriers in order that the road can fully re-open.

Although I have succeeded in persuading KCC Officers to implement stringent conditions to be attached to permits, especially in the High Street and B2173 London Road areas, it is clear that these measures alone are not enough to prevent the type of grid-lock that we face.

That is why I have been lobbying for some time now to see Swanley considered for inclusion onto the Kent Lane Rental Scheme - a scheme open to only a very small percentage of roads in Kent - whereby utilities are charged up to £2000 per day for keeping roads, sections of roads or lanes closed. That is a huge financial incentive to make them work faster to resolve issues. 

Not only would these charges encourage utilities to undertake roadworks in a very swift manner, but it also encourages utilities to collaborate with each other – rather than digging up a section of road multiple times, and causing multiple sets of roadworks every month.

Due to the very strict criteria and eligibility of the main Swanley Roads being on the Kent Lane Rental Scheme, I would please encourage you to sign this petition, so that I may present this to Kent County Council in the near future to demand these charges are brought in as quickly as possible. I am confident they will make a big difference to the turmoil that local people have had to face for the past year.