Dear Paul,
Once again, congratulations on your Kent County Council (KCC) election result. As mentioned, I think it will be beneficial for you and the residents of Herne Bay for me to write you this handover note.
I spoke to hundreds of residents during the election campaign and the note is a good summary of their top KCC priorities (beyond national issues which KCC doesn’t control, such as immigration and policing). Of course, people have opinions on many more topics beyond these ones, but I haven’t included opposing views, rather I am including the items where there is a strong consensus from residents.
Schools
We have many excellent schools across the district and long may that continue.
In the case of Herne Bay High, it’s already the largest school in Kent, and has little capacity for expansion. Many of our young people are having to take the bus to other schools further afield, so I was very pleased to be part of the team that got a new Herne Bay secondary school allocated and funded. The location and details will be agreed in the forthcoming Local Plan, and although that is a Canterbury City Council (CCC) responsibility, KCC does have a voice in that process. I hope it will continue to support this new school for the town.
Highways
Potholes and uneven pavements are the top concern of local residents – at least by frequency of mention – and while they can report them directly to KCC, you can also get involved to get particularly bad instances repaired. Blacksole Bridge is a good example.
Similarly, I receive a large volume of resident concerns over traffic and safety. One I would highlight is the junction of Spenser Rd and Canterbury Rd, which is not safe enough, with cars on the two sides of Spenser Rd unclear as to who has right of way; a mini-roundabout here would be safer, as well as calm the traffic on Canterbury Road; you can see an example of a successful mini-roundabout, which we implemented a couple of years ago, at the Station Rd / King’s Rd junction.
Speeding
Traffic speeds and accidents have dropped in the extended 20 mph zone since it was implemented a year ago. However, there are a few roads in the zone which continue to have persistent speeding, such as Avenue Road, Spenser Rd and Western Esplanade, in addition to a number of 30 mph roads in Beltinge ward where speeding is common.
Kent Police work with Kent County Council to cut speeding and improve road safety, most notably through the Community Speedwatch initiative. I set this up with local residents last year and it would be good if you continued this, as one of the few tools we have to cut speeding.
Noise
On a similar note, residents who live on Canterbury Rd and Central Parade are frustrated by the speeding and noise from motorbikes, in particular. I have been liaising with Matthew Scott, Kent Police & Crime Commissioner, on the possibility of noise and speed cameras. The DfT is currently trialling noise cameras elsewhere in the country and there may be an opportunity to bring one to Herne Bay in the future.
Businesses on the High Street
The pandemic and cost of living crisis have meant that shops and other high street businesses have had a very hard time. Many people call for business rates to be dropped, and I would agree in principle, but this power is reserved for central government, ie KCC cannot cut business rates.
However, I have worked on many localised projects to tackle issues that businesses raise, as well as to try and bring more footfall to the town (e.g. the newly accessible train station). I would encourage you to do similarly.
Community Groups
I worked hard to meet our local community groups, which take many shapes and sizes, but all contribute to making Herne Bay the great place that it is. Many of them need support and if you meet them all it’s a lot of projects to juggle, but with determination and skill a good councillor can make a difference.
Adult Social Care, SEN, Children’s Services
KCC runs these services, which together make up a very large share of KCC’s budget. The policies are developed centrally from Sessions House, but as the KCC councillor received a lot of casework, helping local residents with issues they raised relating to these services.
New housing in Beltinge
Canterbury City Council leads on planning, but as the transport authority, KCC is responsible for issues relating to roads and transport. One issue to flag in particular relates to the Hillborough development, where myself and the local CCC councillors for Beltinge (Ian and Jeanette Stockley) were able to win protections for local residents from both the construction traffic and in preventing the new residents of the estate from having direct access onto the local roads. It’s crucial for Beltinge village that the developer is not allowed to back-track on these hard-won commitments.
In conclusion, I enjoyed my time as KCC councillor, and was pleased to have got a lot done for the town. I hope you have a similar experience. Good luck!
Best regards,
Dan
