Damage to Maryland Road and surrounding areas
The chair of the Hawkenbury Village Association, Dean Kenward, sent the following email to Jamie Hare, Development Agreements Manager at Kent County Council. He is responsible for overseeing the Berkeley Homes development in relation to our roads and pavements.
The current state of the pavements and roads in Hawkenbury is shocking and they are deteriorating fast. Something needs to be done urgently to stop the ongoing damage and get some repairs done.
Residents are fed up with the damage being caused to Maryland Road, Forest Way and Hawkenbury Road. The damage is being caused by Berkeley Homes and their continuous movement of vehicles on the road and pavements. The roads and pavements were not designed for these level of traffic. A quiet village location is being ruined by inconsiderate builders, delivery vehicles and contractors.
Residents are being pushed between county and borough with endless excuses of why they are not responsible for this. No one is willing to take up the issue and deal with it. Someone needs to take ownership and get it resolved. We cannot be expected to live with these conditions for a further 4 years. This damage has been caused in the last year. We would hate to see what it will be like if nothing is done to stop the damage. We all pay our council taxes diligently, so please do not give us the usual budgetary excuses. Use the allocated S106 to make repairs, if necessary.
What is going to happen when KCC actually get round to building the school? The volume of heavy vehicle movements is going to increase even further, causing even more damage.
Attached are photographs taken by residents and posted on our Facebook page. I took a photo of the broken drain cover this morning. This has been broken in the last 24 hours. There is also a video of 2 large trucks driving up onto the pavement exiting the Berkeley Homes site. https://www.facebook.com/groups/431782260588889/permalink/665359830564463/ I took the photo of the broken drain this morning.
We are also expecting more from our elected councillors and we would expect at least one of them to step up and take action or at least seem to take control of coordinating repair efforts.
This email was sent to the following people
Jamie Hare, Development Agreements Manager, Kent County Council
William Benson, Chief Executive of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
Cllr David Jukes, Leader of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
Cllr Catherine Rankin, West Kent County Councillor
Cllr Tracy Moore, Park Ward Borough Councillor
Cllr Nick Pope, Park Ward Borough Councillor
Andrew Lewis, Project Manager, Berkeley Homes
Ben Richardson, Project Manager, Berkeley Homes
Times of Tunbridge Wells and The Courier
Please feel free to comment below or contact us with your videos and photos of damage. We will update you with any replies.
Last week I was nearly hit by a truck carrying blocks which turned from Forest Road into Hawkenbury Road. I was walking around the corner when the truck came around but I did not realise it had a trailer. the trailer mounted the kerb and cut the corner, passing about 6″ from my shoulder. They are still using this route. This morning a similar truck and trailer left the site empty and went straight up Maryland Road and turned into Hawkenbury Road towards Forest Road. It was guided out of the site and up the road by a site operative.
Also note that the crushed section of footpath has now been barriered off and a ‘Footpath Closed’ sign put up. It would be good to know when they are going to replace it.
Thank you for your email and comments. Both issues were discussed at the meeting yesterday.
KCC has agreed to a licence so that Berkeley Homes can put up signs directing traffic away from Hawkenbury Road. Berkeley Homes had signs up, but KCC forced them to take them down. Andy Lewis, from Berkeley Homes assured us yesterday that action will be taken against any contractor using Hawkenbury Road. Unfortuantely, I spotted 2 this morning on my dashcam and have send the footage to Berkeley Homes. The traffic management plan for the development prohibits them from using Hawkenbury Road. As such, I have also informed our local ward councillors and the enforcement officer at the TWBC. You can view the videos here. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjAk-7-bPpC0otyC0i89nA?view_as=subscriber
The footpath has been closed for safety reasons. Berkeley Homes will make a temporary repair tomorrow (Thursday) and have applied to KCC for a street licence to make a permanent repair. The licence will take between 2 to 3 weeks and the pavement will be repaired by the end of April. Under normal circumstances, Berkeley Homes are not legally permitted to repair an adopted road, even if they caused the damage.
I hope that addresses both your issues.
Construction traffic is not supposed to use Hawkenbury Road, but the signage is inappropriately placed and thus useless. There have been numerous incidents of heavy vehicles having problems trying to get along the road and then having to perform tricky and dangerous manoeuvres when they get stuck. A neighbour tried to report this last week and was assured by Berkeley head office that the concerns would be passed to the site. However, to date, nothing seems to have been done.