Dartford Town Centre Consultation: Written Comments Received back (28.02.18- 29.03.18) Name Comment Page Number Ellandi LLP 20 Environment Agency 4 GL Hearn for Muse Development 24 Highways England 19 Historic England 19 Kent County Council (KCC) 15 Lichfield’s for British Land 22 Mr Cook 2 Mr Dean 2 Mr Herbert 25 Mr Izzard 25 Mr Macey 6 Mr Maidment 24 Ms May 22 Mr Ryan 23 Ms Southgate 3 Ms West 7 Mr Wolley 2 Southern Water 3 Transport for London (TfL) 14 WYG for Sainsbury’s Supermarket 22 1 Dartford Town Centre Consultation: Written Comments Received back (28.02.18- 29.03.18) Name Company/Pr Comment ivate Individual Mr Cook Private I would like to make the following comments on the planned “improvements” for Dartford in relation to buses. I fear they be unpopular Individual with the Council. 1. Under NO circumstances do away with buses stopping in Market Street. To do so would spark a riot. 2. I propose that the junction at the bottom of West Hill be changed so as to allow Dartford bound traffic to drive down Spital Street and then go onto Dartford Railway station via Hythe Street. The advantages of this would be to allow 96, 428 and 492 bus passengers to alight in the heart of Dartford, possibly outside the Co-op building. Another advantage is that it would ease the congestion on the A226 / Westgate Road. If it was felt that too much traffic would use this route then access could be restricted to buses only. However, the flow of traffic on Spital Street between the A226 / Westgate Road and Kent would either need to be reversed or made two-way. I fear that Dartford Council might be engaging in a theoretical plan for the future of Dartford rather concentrating on the needs and wants of its towns people. Mr Wolley Private I’ve just been reading the consultation paperwork, thanks for preparing such an interesting set of documents. Individual We’ve lived in Dartford for just over a year. We bought a two bed house (our first home) on Fulwich Road and both of us commute to London on a daily basis. In the last year I have tirelessly reported litter around our area, when we moved in the level of rubbish on the surrounding roads was terrible. I really feel this is due to the lack of public bins in the area. Once leaving the station area there are no bins until the middle of Fulwich Road. People throw rubbish into the river over the sides of the bridge. The amount of litter is terrible and it goes into the river. It was good to see the river cleared recently but only when I complained several times. I walk from the station, through Wickes' car park on a daily basis. I really feel that some money needs to be spent on making the quality of street lighting much better. I work in the entertainment industry and regularly walk through there area at 11pm, it is a dark and scary environment. With the amount of flats being built in that area it would be great to get it more inviting. I am really glad we moved to the area and we are looking forward to raising a family here. I feel the place needs some ‘TLC’ and it’s great that it sounds like it might happen soon. As always - I am really interested in being involved with the solution and anything that I can do to make the situation better I am really interested in being engaged with. Mr Dean Private My wife and I are the Commanding Officers of The Salvation Army Corps in Dartford - The Salvation Army premises are located in Hythe Individual Street, a few yards from the vacant land and old Co-Op site. Having read the 'fact file', reviews and plans, we would like to put forward our views. 2 Dartford Town Centre Consultation: Written Comments Received back (28.02.18- 29.03.18) Name Company/Pr Comment ivate Individual 1. Our first thought was - does Dartford really need yet another shopping centre when it already has three in the town centre, plus Bluewater a bus ride away? 2. The daily 'rush hour' traffic in Dartford is bad enough on any day, and Dartford comes to a standstill if there is an incident affecting the Thames crossing. If the population really does increase by 43% this can only get worse if the road infrastructure is not improved. 3. This is our main concern: We noticed there is no mention of the homelessness problem in Dartford. We believe that a recent Shelter report named Dartford as having one of the worst homelessness problems in the country - and this is certainly borne out by our experience. While the literature paints a rosy picture for those able to afford their own homes (which, given your predictions of house prices increasing so dramatically, will be fewer and fewer) there is nothing in the plans for those who are homeless or struggling. On Monday evenings we provide free meals to nearly 40 men and women who are homeless/struggling financially/suffer from mental health problems - and the numbers seem to be increasing. Together with other churches in Dartford, we run a winter shelter scheme which provides night-time sleeping accommodation from January to March for homeless people, but we can only accommodate 12 people - the rest have to sleep rough - often in sub-zero temperatures. We cannot do any more than this. It seems to us shameful to be named as having the worst homelessness problem in the country and still have no plans to deal with it. It would be nice to see something in your plans to help such people. In the grand scheme of things they are not many - if a thousand (or more) homes can be built for those able to buy them, it can't be beyond the realms of possibility to provide accommodation and facilities for the few who are not. As Salvation Army Officers, and as ordinary people, we would love to see land set aside, together with the necessary funds, to build a decent community centre for the people of Dartford with facilities to cater for their needs and facilities to accommodate homeless people, if only temporarily while they await permanent housing. We are only able to do what we already do - our Salvation Army hall is not large and we run Parent & Toddler groups, a community cafe, activities for families and youngsters, as well as meals for the homeless. With proper facilities we could do so much more and would love to do so. Cinema's, hotels and shopping centres are very nice for those who have, and we are not knocking that. But should we not also remember those who have not? Southern Thank you for your email below inviting Southern Water to comment on the Dartford Town Centre Framework. I can confirm that we Water have reviewed the document, and at this stage we have no comments to make. We look forward to being kept informed of the future progress of the Dartford Town Centre Framework. Ms Private Unfortunately I did not know about the exhibition in the Orchard Centre until it was too late to visit but I have been given your Southgate Individual leaflet. Traffic wise I cannot see any improvement and really feel that certain areas such as Princes Road leading to the junction of 3 Dartford Town Centre Consultation: Written Comments Received back (28.02.18- 29.03.18) Name Company/Pr Comment ivate Individual Lowfield Street needs to be improved. The traffic is bad at times there mainly because there is such a short lane for the left hand turning vehicles and, because of a traffic island opposite St Johns Ambulance blocking the right hand turning lane, it is quite frustrating for people who want to turn right. Another place is the exit of the car park at Prospect Place which sometimes causes a lot of congestion when turning right because of traffic waiting at the traffic lights at the end of Hythe Street. I always try and avoid driving in that area as it is a nightmare at times. Generally there has been so much building in the Dartford area and still more to come that the infrastructure of the roads have not been improved to cope with all the extra traffic. I live in Darenth Road, a narrow busy road with severe bends and lots of all day commuter/local workers parking. I see that you are intended to put extra car parking in Acacia Hall and the entrance and exit will be in Darenth Road crossing Fastrack. I do agree we do need more parking for Dartford and we have lost a very good one behind Barclays Bank and we are going to lose the one at Iceland. Personally I do not think it a good idea unless you are thinking of improving both the junctions at East Hill and Princes Road. Both these junctions are dangerous as follows: Let’s start with the East Hill junction: At present it is very difficult to access turning left from East Hill into Darenth Road and turning right into the road can cause congestion, especially when traffic coming down East Hill is getting into the right hand lane. It also has a very blind left hand turn into East Hill which directs towards the town centre and, believe me, I have even seen vehicles trying to turn right there! Therefore it is not ideal to put more traffic on this junction and probably more people would be driving the length of the road or using York Road/Brent Lane to gain entrance to the car park which would put more traffic on the smaller roads and make Darenth Road even busier.