To receive a report from the Leader of the Council on the business of the cabinet and on matters that the leader considers should be drawn to the council’s attention. The leader shall have 10 minutes to make his announcements.
The opposition group will have an opportunity to reply to the leader’s remarks. The opposition group leader shall have 5 minutes to respond after which the Leader of the Council will have a right of reply. Any right of reply will be for a maximum duration of 5 minutes.
Minutes:
The Leader gave the following announcements:
“Thank you Chairman and good evening to you all.
Tonight I want to continue to talk about the chaos on our roads last weekend which actually started Friday morning. There were two major causes of the disruption firstly a severe incident on the M20 which had to be closed and so the traffic was diverted off onto our local roads.
I went into Folkestone from Densole on that morning and at that time there were two lanes of mainly lorries at a virtual standstill on the A260 Canterbury Road Hill, I thought that I would be clever and come back via junction 12, go up Beachborough Hill and through Lyminge, but the junction was gridlocked with traffic moving at a snail’s pace trying to access the North bound M20. After about an hour and covering 600yards I was able to escape through Peene to East Hawkinge and then onto home. I have just described this to give you some idea of the magnitude of the situation. I was stuck in it for about an hour, pity the people trying to access the tunnel and ferries who took up to 21 hours before they got away partly caused because at the start of the day only 4 of the French customs check points were manned.
Our officers were put on alert Friday morning and worked throughout the weekend to assist the Kent Resilience Forum and Kent Police.
This situation clearly cannot be tolerated, every time there is a holiday rush, there are severe weather conditions, customs delays or strike action. A comprehensive plan to alleviate the traffic congestion must be compiled.
The Leader of Dover District Council, Councillor Trevor Bartlett and myself have co-signed a letter to the Government demanding that they invest in East Kent’s road network including finishing the dualling of the A2 and sorting out Brenley Corner, developing a nationwide network of lorry parks, and create “Smart” travel corridors and efficient borders using new technology. In the meantime to provide greater resources to the Kent Resilience Forum and Kent Police so as to manage more effectively the disruption of our roads and enable proper welfare facilities to be provided.
Having said all of this, whilst travelling around Folkestone was a complete nightmare, I am able to report that not a single resident contacted our out of hours emergency lifeline 365 control centre nor any of our Community Hubs requesting immediate emergency support. I would remind members and our residents that these support routes are available should there be a need for immediate help that can’t be provided by the blue light services.
Lifeline can be contacted 24/7 (on 01303 242615) and during normal working hours:
Folkestone Community Hub (01303 316186).
Hythe Community Hub (01303 269602).
New Romney Community Hub (01797 208590).
It is my belief that the Kent Resilience Forum, Kent Police and our officers worked flat out to try and contain an impossible situation and I would like to thank them for their dedication.
I welcome Councillor Keutenius’s agreement to get the Overview and Scrutiny committee to hold a special meeting on this subject, I know that it exercises all of our minds”.
Councillor McConville, on behalf of the Opposition, responded to the points raised and stated that he had also experienced the diabolical traffic situation. He requested that Stagecoach be included in any discussions, as the bus service had been deeply impacted. The bus station live information had not reflected what buses were cancelled, and the length of time buses were taking.
The Leader responded that he would of course ensure Stagecoach were included in any discussion, but stated that he was sympathetic to the nightmare situation they were facing.
Proposed by Councillor Monk,
Seconded by Councillor Mrs Hollingsbee; and
RESOLVED:
That the announcements of the Leader be noted.
(The recommendations were approved by affirmation of the meeting).