Agenda item

To receive verbal updates from the relevant Cabinet Members and the Corporate Director for Growth, Environment & Transport

1.            The Cabinet Member Environment and Transport, Mr Balfour, gave his verbal update.  He explained that due to the rainfall throughout December and early January, the ground across Kent was saturated. The rainfall during the week of 4 January added to this causing widespread surface water flooding across the county.

2.            KCC received 830 drainage enquiries (put into context, that was more than the busiest week of the 2013/14 winter) and provided 146 two hour drainage callouts. In addition, Highway Operations raised a further 64 emergency & urgent jobs related to the weather.

3.            Across the County, most Districtshad roads closed last week due to flooding, some were still closed today. East Kent was worst hit; Dover had 18 roads either closed or virtually impassable and Shepway had large areas affected. The teams were excellent through the week, Dover Highway Operations were commended for the work they carried out over this period.

4.            Once the water had subsided there was much damage due to debris from the flooding. A selection of photos from Dover District highlights the issues.

5.            The gritters had been sent out 8 times over the months of November and January.

6.            Mr Balfour advised that the Environment Agency was working with Kent County Council, Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council and Maidstone Borough Council to develop options to reduce the risk of flooding to communities from the River Medway, River Beult and River Tiese. The Environment Agency had now completed its update of their flood model and was using it to test options to reduce risk. The outcomes were expected this month which was slightly behind schedule although the EA has advised that the delay would not affect the design and construction completion dates of 2019 and 2022.  (Since the meeting, the Environment Agency has advised that there will be a further delay in reporting on its findings)

7.         Mr Balfour advised that the Minerals and Waste Local Plan was submitted for independent examination by a government appointed Planning Inspector in November 2014.  Examination Hearings were held in April and May 2015 and as a result a number of Main and Additional (minor) Modifications where proposed to the Plan to address legal soundness matters and ensure that the Plan complies with planning law and policy guidance. Representations on the soundness and legality of the first set of modifications were invited from 17 August 2015 to 12 October 2015; and in light of the responses received the Inspector subsequently wrote to the Council suggesting that several further Main Modifications were necessary to ensure the soundness of the Plan. These were currently the subject of an eight week public consultation which expired on 4 March 2016.    Any views received would be considered by the Inspector in finalising his report.  Assuming that he was satisfied with the Plan, his report would pave the way for the County Council to adopt the Plan.  Once adopted it becomes the Development Plan against which mineral and waste management planning applications were determined and the allocation criteria for the separate Mineral and Waste Sites Plans.

7.            Good progress was being made by many officers in the Directorate and Amey on a diverse range of challenging LEP transport projects with tight spending targets. Mr Balfour gave the following  examples:

·         Tonbridge High Street works had resumed after the Christmas trading break.

·         A26 London Road/Yew Tree Road was about to start.

·         Advance works for Maidstone Bridge Gyratory were about to start

·         A contract had been awarded for M20J4 for a planned March start.

·         Tenders for Rathmore Road, Gravesend would be returned this week for a planned June start.

·         There was progress on a number of Local Sustainable Transport and pedestrian schemes.

8.            Business Cases had been prepared and submitted to the Local Enterprise Partnership for some 16/17 schemes so that spend could be brought forward to balance out re-profiled spend on current year schemes. A lot of effort was going into public engagement and advance information for these projects.

9.            Confirmation was awaited of the dates for the Highways England consultation on the route options for a new Lower Thames Crossing which is expected to run for 10 weeks from late January. There was a Stakeholder Advisory Panel meeting on Friday, 22 January where we hoped for an announcement on the consultation. We expect the consultation to seek views on route options within corridor A (adjacent to the existing Dartford Crossing) and corridor C (to the east of Gravesend). Kent County Council’s proposed response would be discussed by this Cabinet Committee in March.

The Cabinet Committee at its last meeting had agreed to a Member Task and Finish Group being set up to look at future options for the future of the Soft Landscaping Contract. The work was being led by the Vice Chairman,           Mr Pearman and was scheduled to finish this month and a final report would come to this Cabinet Committee in March for consideration.

Mr Balfour confirmed that following the most recent waste disposal contracts, KCC’s target to reduce waste to landfill to 5% before 2020 had already been met.