A226 Galley Hill Swanscombe anniversary

KentOnline / KMTV

Frustrated residents have shared their thoughts on the second "unhappy" anniversary of the closure of the A226 Galley Hill Road in Swanscombe following a landslip

Transcript

00:00The very day when it happened and we were coming up this road and as we were coming up I said to my wife

00:07look that that looks like it's cracked there that road. Lo and behold a few hours later the road actually collapsed

00:13so we were very fortunate that it could have happened you know as we were passing it.

00:19Once a busy A road now blocked left in disrepair though not forgotten.

00:25This chalk spine collapsed onto this local business two years ago today.

00:30So my first thought was just like this minimised the damage so I pulled all the vehicles out that I could that were in the proximity.

00:37We set up an exclusion zone and I could just watch from a distance as sort of the family business was being destroyed.

00:44Now thankfully this happened on a bank holiday however if this was a normal working day

00:50a mechanic would have been working right at the back of this warehouse here.

00:54It could have been a different story.

00:57Do you think it will ever be fixed?

01:00Let's hope so. I mean it's not just us obviously the residents they need to get back to some normality and stuff

01:05and obviously it's such a major road it's just disruptions everywhere so yeah.

01:11And they're not alone.

01:13On Gallyhill Road this motorcycle shop used to rely on passing trade.

01:18That lifeline has now been cut off.

01:21Owner Mick says business rate relief from the borough council has helped him keep the wheels turning

01:27although staying afloat is still a daily battle.

01:31I pay rates on the main road and I'm not on the main road.

01:37So basically that's what the problem is.

01:40For me with that road being shut I'm not going to get no passing traffic.

01:46You can't call traffic through Swanscombe passing traffic because it's not.

01:49It's not on the main road.

01:51You don't have a motorcycle shop not on the main road.

01:53And it's not just businesses.

01:57People across Swanscombe say they've suffered too.

02:00Holding a protest just last weekend calling for action for a return to normality.

02:06With Gallyhill Road still closed access to Swanscombe is limited

02:10and narrow streets become easily gridlocked.

02:13If there's anything major accidents on any of the roads or the Dartford Tunnel

02:18this section gets gridlocked.

02:21You cannot move.

02:22If anybody needed an ambulance they wouldn't be able to get here quick enough.

02:26They would die.

02:28And take a look at this.

02:29Last June a lost lorry ended up in a children's park.

02:33There is an official diversion and locals say it is regularly flouted.

02:38But everything comes through Swanscombe now.

02:41It doesn't matter what it is.

02:42They just can't find no alternative routes.

02:45What needs to happen?

02:46Well this has got to be fixed.

02:48This has got to be fixed to get a lot of the heavy stuff off it.

02:52These protesters say they feel cut off.

02:55The chalk spine has long been the main route in and out of the community.

03:01It's an ancient right of way, ancient road that goes through the Kingdom of Kent

03:05linking London with Dover.

03:08As long as there's been human beings, there's been some sort of a trackway stroke road on this site.

03:15Now a solution may be in sight.

03:17Kent County Council revealed two referred repair options at a public meeting a few weeks ago.

03:23So what we had to do was really bring it down to a realistic approach

03:26because we had a deadline that we needed to get into government

03:30to be able to actually put pressure on to get that funding.

03:35One is to bridge the area, so it would be a similar bridge to what crosses HS1 at the moment further down the road.

03:42Secondly, it would be a reinforced earth embankment.

03:45But after two long years, residents are asking how much longer they'll be left waiting.

03:51I think what shocked people was that they weren't even full detailed proposals.

03:56It was the fact that even if the government approved funding today,

04:02it would take them six months to work up a full business case, come up with some detailed plans,

04:07another six months to actually put the contracts out to tender,

04:10and then 18 months to two years to build.

04:13So, you know, yeah, we've got a sketch on the back of an envelope, basically.

04:19KCC has admitted it doesn't have the funds to pay for the repairs.

04:24The local MP is due to meet the roads minister later this month to push for government support.

04:30She has knowledge of the situation here on the ground.

04:34Go in and talk to her about finding a funding solution.

04:36It would almost certainly have to be a loan from government to Kent County Council

04:41to be paid back over a period of time into the future,

04:43because it's Kent's responsibility to fix this.

04:47But if we can get a loan from the government, we can actually start work,

04:51hopefully in a reasonably compressed timetable,

04:54and give people in Swanscombe hope that this is going to be solved soon.

04:58It's an unhappy anniversary for these protesters,

05:02but for the first time in two years, a fix finally on the table.

05:07Until now, pressure has been on local authorities.

05:10But now, all eyes on London, hoping Westminster sums up for cash.

05:17Gabriel Morris in Swanscombe.

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