Highway improvements to A229 Angley Road

The request was partially successful.

Dear Kent County Council,

I was hoping that you could provide me with more information on the proposed highway improvements to the A229 junction with Waterloo Road at Wilsley Green, Cranbrook.

Could you tell me:

1. The total cost budgeted, with any breakdowns into more granular detail (e.g design versus construction)
2. The objectives of the improvements and any metrics agreed for measuring the success of the improvements
3. The proposed timetable of works and anticipated start and end dates, along with any detail on traffic restrictions during construction
4. Details of any communications sent to residents of Wilsley Green, with summary of contents and dates sent
5. Anonymised (PII removed) examples of any communications sent to residents of Wilsley Green

Yours faithfully,

Ian Tester

Kent County Council

Dear Mr Tester

 

Thank you for your email below.

 

Kent County Council acknowledges your request for information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Assuming KCC holds this information, we
will endeavour to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later
than 7^th November 2014 (20 working days from date of receipt).

 

We will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this information
or if there are exemptions to be considered and/or any costs for providing
the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/14/1874 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.

 

Best regards

 

Ann Phillips | Information Access Officer | Information Resilience &
Transparency Team | Kent County Council | Room 2.71, Sessions House,
Maidstone, ME14 1XQ | Internal: 7000 6199 | External: 01622 696199 |
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council...
|

 

 

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Kent County Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Tester,

 

Thank you for your recent request for information dated 12^th October
2014, made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. Concerning
the Highways improvements to the A229 Angley Road, I am pleased to provide
the response below and attached.

 

1)    In terms of the total cost budgeted for this scheme, I can report
the following:

a.    £19,750 for construction

b.    £3,460 for design which covers £1,000 design time, £860 for the
traffic regulation order associated with speed reduction element of the
scheme, £600 for safety audits at Stages 1, 2 and 3 and £1,000 for
consultation undertaken as part of the scheme.

 

2)    The objectives of the scheme are as follows:

a.    Reduction in vehicular speeds

b.    Reduction in the volume of through traffic heading into Cranbrook
particularly those classified as a HGV. 

c.    Improving vehicular movement with the major road (A229 Angley Road)
having priority over the minor road (Waterloo Road)

The scheme will be monitored on a yearly basis through the Crash Remedial
process which monitors the number of crashes occurring on Kent’s roads
that are classified as killed, serious or slight and have resulted in
injury. No other monitoring method for the success of this scheme have
been arranged or agreed at this stage.

 

3)    This is still to be determined and as of 29^th October 2014, no
works have been ordered.

 

4)    Please see attached a copy of a letter sent to residents on 29^th
January 2014 and signed by Tara O’Shea.  This resulted in the following
responses being received:

No Comments
Concerned that traffic flows will increase by up to
220 vehicles per hour, congestion in Waterloo Road,
alternative inappropriate routes used. Traffic
1 speeds too high.
Concerned that traffic flows will increase by up to
220 vehicles per hour, congestion in Waterloo Road,
alternative inappropriate routes used. Traffic
2 speeds too high.
3 Wants a reduction in speed.
Change in speed limit, loss of parking, light
4 intrusion
Reduction in speed limit, wants an extension of the
footpath outside Wilsley or a crossing point
5 provided
Fears of increased vehicle speeds, lack of parking
for displaced vehicles, provision for disabled
6 parking?
Is concerned about double yellow lines, unhappy that
additional HGV's will be turning outside her
7 property
8 Concerns over removal of parking and traffic speeds

 

In terms of the double yellow line element of this scheme, this was
subject to a legal consultation as prescribed by the Road Traffic
Regulations Act 1984.  This element of the work was undertaken by
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council on our behalf.  This consultation period
was open for a period of three weeks between 11^th April 2014 and 2^nd May
2014.  The notice of consultation was advertised in the Courier
newspaper (w/e 11^th April 2014) and a notice was placed on site shortly
before the consultation period was opened.  This resulted in the following
responses being received.     

 

No Reason(s) for Objection
1 Concerned that traffic flows will increase by up to 220 vehicles per
hour, congestion in Waterloo Road, alternative inappropriate routes
used. Traffic speeds too high.
2 Change in speed limit, loss of parking, light intrusion
3 Fears of increased vehicle speeds, lack of parking for displaced
vehicles, provision for disabled parking?
4 Concerns over removal of parking and traffic speeds

 

5)    Further communication was sent on 17^th September 2014 detailing the
outcome of a recent traffic survey.  You will find an anonymised copy of
this email attached to this letter.

If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council...
on our website. Please quote reference FOI/14/1874.

 

If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner’s website [2]http://www.ico.org.uk/concerns.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Jemila Dodge | Information Access Officer | Information Resilience &
Transparency Team | Kent County Council | Room 2.71, Sessions House,
Maidstone, ME14 1XQ | Internal: 7000 6265 | External: 01622 696265 |
[3]http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council...
|

 

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Dear Kent County Council,

Many thanks for this - it answers most of my questions. I see that the budget for consultation was £1000. Could you clarify how many letters in total were sent to residents by KCC in January and the number of emails in September?

Yours faithfully,

Ian Tester

Kent County Council

Dear Mr Tester

 

Thank you for your email below.

 

Kent County Council acknowledges your request for information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Assuming KCC holds this information, we
will endeavour to supply the data to you as soon as possible but no later
than 2nd December 2014 (20 working days from date of receipt).

 

We will advise you as soon as possible if we do not hold this information
or if there are exemptions to be considered and/or any costs for providing
the information. Please quote our reference - FOI/14/2060 - in any
communication regarding this particular request.

 

Best regards

 

Catherine Byford | Information Access Officer | Information Resilience &
Transparency Team | Kent County Council | Room 2.71, Sessions House,
Maidstone, ME14 1XQ | Internal: 7000 1037 | External: 01622 221037 |
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council...
|

 

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Kent County Council

Dear Mr Tester

 

Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) 2000, relating to the A229. I am pleased to provide
you with the response below:

 

The £1000 for consultation as quoted in a previous response refers to the
investigation fee that has been applied to the speed reduction scheme that
is being promoted alongside the A229 junction alteration. This will enable
officers to carry out the necessary consultation with up to 30 residents.

 

Unfortunately no records were kept with regards to the number of letters
that were sent in January 2014 as part of the informal consultation
process.

 

Only one email was sent to residents in September.

 

If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied
with legislation, please ask for a review by following our complaints
process; details can be found at this link
[1]http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council...
on our website. Please quote reference FOI/14/2060.

 

If you still remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can
appeal to the Information Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. Details of what you need to do, should
you wish to pursue this course of action, are available from the
Information Commissioner’s website [2]http://www.ico.org.uk/concerns.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Laura Pronger | Information Access Officer | Information Resilience &
Transparency Team | Kent County Council | Room 2.71, Sessions House,
Maidstone, ME14 1XQ | 03000 416590 |
[3]http://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council...
|

 

 

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Ian Tester left an annotation ()

Kent County Council have been very helpful and provided most of the information. I am satisfied with the answers they have provided.

Many thanks.