Shipbourne Road Delays Drag On in Tonbridge, Days After South East Water Said the Work Was Done

A road closure on Shipbourne Road in Tonbridge, caused by South East Water works at the Dry Hill Park Road junction, has dragged on for days longer than expected - and local county councillors say they've had to chase the company twice this week to get its own contractors to clear up. It's the latest episode on a stretch of road that's had persistent water problems since a major burst main closed it for days back in August.

Kent county councillors Mark Hood and Paul Stepto first warned residents on 15 October that access to Shipbourne Road from Dry Hill Park Road had been blocked again, with temporary traffic lights in place at the Yardley Park Road junction - works, they said, were in place "courtesy of South East Water." Residents replying to their post described traffic backing up from the junction into the High Street, with no advance warning given. Two days later, the councillors said they'd asked South East Water to investigate why the closure and traffic control were still there, and that the company was "sending a team to remove the lights and barriers." That didn't happen: as of Sunday 18 October, the councillors say the closure "is still in place despite South East Water asking their contractors to remove them yesterday," and that they've been back in touch with the company again to ask about the delay. Neither the councillors nor South East Water have given a new date for when the junction will actually be cleared.

This is the second time in under three months that Shipbourne Road has caused serious disruption. A major burst water main shut the road for days from 1 August, cutting off water or reducing pressure for thousands of homes and badly damaging the carriageway. One resident commenting on the councillors' Facebook page said this was in fact the fourth leak on the same stretch since then, with a temporary repair carried out roughly a month ago - a claim West Kent Local News hasn't independently verified, but which fits the pattern of repeat works on this junction since the summer. Several other residents said workmen were nowhere to be seen for long stretches while the lights were in place, backing up both the morning school run and commuter traffic.

Sources: Cllrs Mark Hood and Paul Stepto, 15 October, 17 October and 18 October posts