Landowner impacted by Swanscombe landslide stalls work till compensation promised

KentOnline / KMTV

Lancebox ltd was damaged when part of Galley Hill Road came crumbling down last April

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00:00 A year since part of Galley Hill Road crumbled away and progress to its repair has been slow.

00:07 This week there's been a surprise. Contractors spotted on the cliff. This motorcycle shop

00:13 is next to the closed main route. The owner says the business is running on fumes because

00:17 there just aren't enough passers by.

00:20 "I'm 66 in July, so I'll draw my pension. That money's going to have to go into here.

00:29 So I don't draw wages at all. I haven't drawn wages for about six months and I'll put the

00:37 money back in if I do draw anything. So just keep putting savings in and got a loan and

00:43 put that in. It's just hopeless."

00:45 Delays to work for the road have partially stemmed from disagreements between landowners

00:49 and the county council. We've learned that one has given the green light to work to begin

00:54 on the southern side of the road. But Broomway Limited, owning part of the northern side

00:59 of the road, is holding up progress.

01:02 And this company is part of Lancebox Limited, the demolition firm that had a building damaged

01:08 by the landslide last year.

01:10 We did ask Lancebox for an interview but nobody was available for an interview. However, they

01:15 did answer all of our questions over email. They say that their business has been severely

01:20 impacted by the landslide from last year.

01:23 Outsourcing maintenance of vehicles is now a monthly costing which is not normal practice.

01:28 Internet availability is now unstable. We have multiple crashes each day, which also

01:32 takes down our phone lines. The business opportunities we may have missed are unknown.

01:38 When we asked them what it would take for them to sign the contract to allow agencies

01:42 onto Galley Hill Road, they say they're looking for reasonable compensation for what we have

01:46 had to spend to keep their business afloat.

01:49 The ball is back with Kent County Council solicitors.

01:52 We sent these concerns to KCC and this was their response.

01:55 KCC and our legal team are in touch with the landowners and businesses impacted and they

01:59 appreciate the inconvenience caused and are discussing how to mitigate this during the

02:03 phase one works.

02:05 Alongside the technical challenges posed by the collapse, the complexity of the site,

02:08 including legal ownership and utility services, continues to require careful consideration.

02:14 With work finally underway, could we be closer than ever to reaching agreements?

02:19 I think everyone's keen to get this problem solved and the two landowners on the north

02:24 side are certainly in discussions with KCC. KCC are very keen to get this dealt with and

02:30 as soon as they can come to agreement and sign their legal paperwork, then they'll be

02:34 on site and we can get this moving.

02:37 Earlier this month, there was a protest marking one year since the collapse. Some believe

02:42 the outcry from the community spurred the start of the work we're seeing.

02:46 I'm overjoyed that there has been some work eventually started. It's taken a year for

02:52 them to get to this stage and it's interesting that KCC have started work even though not

02:57 all the licences are in place. So obviously they've decided that they need to respond

03:01 to public pressure to get something done.

03:04 The cause of the landslide remains unknown but there's hope that it might be determined

03:08 now that work is in progress.

03:11 Gabriel Morris in Swanscombe.

03:12 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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