Sign up to our daily newsletter for all the latest Kent stories and breaking news delivered straight to your inbox Thank you for subscribing!We have more newsletters A masterplan shows a new village for Kent with approximately 800 homes land which could be used for a new secondary school This farmland site in Capel and Paddock Wood is 89.74 hectares Paddock Wood is a tight-knit market town in the heart of Kentish oast country, under eight miles from Tunbridge Wells As KentLive reported in November last year Paddock Wood could see the scheme built north west of the town But Paddock Wood has already become a magnet for developers Council papers show three large sites are currently under construction within Paddock Wood: Mascalls Farm for 413 homes; Mascalls Court Farm for 375 homes; and Church Farm for 360 homes The "illustrative masterplan" from Crest Nicholson for the new settlement The company says it has "aspirations to offer 40 per cent of homes as affordable housing" The proposals also include outdoor sports facilities with a pavilion and a "local centre" which would have shops and facilities And land would be "safeguarded" for a four-form entry secondary school which could potentially be expanded to six form entry The railway line goes across the bottom end of the site so a pedestrian railway crossing would be added The traveller pitches are positioned on the lower section There is also land described as being a "potential future residential area" A consultation by Crest Nicholson ended on February 16 and the developer said it was now "carefully considering all responses and using it to inform the ongoing development of our proposals" A planning application is expected in the spring but a screening opinion was submitted last November which asked Tunbridge Wells Borough Council if an environmental impact assessment was needed The council said it was and set out a long list of aspects it must cover including transportation and access; landscape and visual amenity; historic environment; biodiversity and geology; flood risk and drainage; and noise and external lighting Crest Nicholson says: "The central street is designed to support a bus service with potential stops located within the green spaces at the heart of the development and near the local centre." "Primary vehicle access will be from the west via the A228 Maidstone Road with an additional eastern access for buses from the B2160 Maidstone Road." It also said its plans would be "informed as far as possible" by the neighbourhood plans for Paddock Wood Town Council and Capel Parish Council Capel Parish Council said in November in its objection: "We maintain our objection to the inclusion of this site in the Local Plan We note that this site has been put forward before the outcome of the Inspector's main modifications are known on the emerging Local Plan." "We are concerned about the effect of this large number of housing on the levels of traffic and air quality on the A228 and surrounding road network and in particular towards Five Oak Green "We would like to highlight that part of this site is in flood zone 2/3 and we remain concerned about ground water flooding We request that any flooding mitigation measures do not increase the speed of flooding in parishes downstream "We would like to highlight that the addition of 770 houses in this area represents an 80 per cent increase to our parish We would expect S106 contributions to be made to CPC for improvements to our highways and community facilities as we believe the effect on us is greater If this proposal goes ahead we request that the infrastructure is in place before any occupation." Crest Nicholson says the land the subject of its proposal is "section A" of an "extended settlement" which would include 2,450 homes and infrastructure made possible by Green Belt being used west of Paddock Wood This current proposal is on land east of A228 Whetsted Road and west of the B2160 The proposal says a new road access would be built from the B2160 Maidstone Road and also from the A228 Maidstone Road/Whetsted Road Another traffic access to the sports facilities and the traveller pitches would be made from the A228 south of the railway line If you want to look at the application, it is here and the reference is 24/02743/EIASCO. Join our new WhatsApp community! Click this link to receive your daily dose of KentLive content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. 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Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right Network Rail/Southeastern Alliance release People using the Medway Valley line between Paddock Wood and Strood are being asked to plan ahead and check before they travel when Network Rail engineers undertake work on the railway to protect it against landslips between Thursday 31 October and Sunday 3 November (inclusive) the line will be closed between Paddock Wood and Maidstone West and trains starting and terminating at Maidstone West Network Rail engineers will build a 200-metre long sheet pile wall along the railway line near Teston approximately 1km from East Farleigh station The wall will stop soil and debris from reaching the tracks in the event of a landslip caused by flooding or heavy rain.  Landslips can cause a lot of disruption and delays to passengers services need to be re-routed or cancelled which is why this work at Teston is crucial for the continued safe and reliable running of services on the Medway Valley line.  To make the best use of the time when the line is closed will also be repainted and refurbished while worn-out rail will be replaced at Maidstone West When the landslip prevention work is taking place services between Paddock Wood and Strood will start and terminate at Maidstone West Accessible replacement bus services will operate between: the Medway Valley Line has been the subject of a Daytime Access Scheme which means that engineers don’t have to undertake some engineering work they would normally have to do at night This trial aims to deliver a better railway at lower cost said: “It’s important that we proactively identify and introduce preventative measures at sites prone to landslips to ensure that we keep passengers safe and services running reliably.  “Some of the slopes or cuttings on either side of our tracks need to be strengthened by improving drainage or adding stronger materials to the slope itself such as the sheet pile wall at Teston.  “We know there’s never a good time to close the railway but the completion of this work is critical to improving resilience of the line as we come into the wetter Autumn Please do plan ahead and check your journey with nationalrail.co.uk.” Southeastern Operations and Safety director said: “We understand changes to our services can be frustrating but by working with Network Rail we can schedule these works in advance and provide alternative options for our customers and reduce the chances of highly disruptive short notice changes “We will be providing a replacement bus service throughout this period and online journey planners are already updated.  So please check before you travel and thank you for your patience while this essential repair and improvement work is carried out.” david.meechan@southeasternrailway.co.uk Southeastern is the trading name of SE Trains Limited Registered in England under company number 03266762 Get the latest property market news straight to your inbox A tight-knit small town in Kent which has seen huge amounts of house building in the past decade could see another 800 homes built Rural town Paddock Wood which is under eight miles from Tunbridge Wells and in the heart of Kentish oast country could see the scheme north west of the town built and it would need green belt land to be released The application is from Stantec UK Ltd which is a planning consultants on behalf of house builder Crest Nicholson This is not a full or outline planning application but is what's called a screening opinion" which asks Tunbridge Wells Borough Council whether the development proposal would need an environmental impact assessment and what information should be included in that But papers say the assessment will be carried out anyway by Crest Nicholson's team Kent County Council in 2015 described Paddock Wood's "significant river flooding events" and "in more recent years a number of incidents of surface water flooding associated with the small watercourses sewerage and private drainage systems have been reported" The land that is the subject of the application is east of A228 Whetsted Road and west of the B2160 and there is currently only one document which refers to Paddock Wood as a "village" which is surrounded by agricultural fields and it has a public right of way on the land described fears of building on "some of the best farmland in the borough removing hundreds of trees and building on the floodplain around Paddock Wood" The area had already seen high levels of house building including the Church Farm development It says the council's policy for this land includes a two-form entry primary school It also says Paddock Wood Railway Station is 500m away and there are "numerous" bus services from the town centre the effects of surface water run-off including "direct impacts associated with any direct changes to Paddock Wood streams and the River Medway" will be considered in the assessment If you want to look at the application, it is here and the reference is 24/02743/EIASCO. Get Kent's latest breaking news and top stories on WhatsApp Residents living in new build homes on the ‘Mascalls Grange Estate’ in Paddock Wood (Kent, England), which was constructed by Persimmon Homes, have called for help after suffering a “nightmare” of protracted broadband outages. But locals have been unable to escape the developer’s sibling ISP, FibreNest because they have a “monopoly” over the area but this has thus far not been attractive enough to entice any other providers As one resident, Lois Gray (24), of the Mascalls Grange Estate, said (KentOnline): “From the start it became clear FibreNest’s monopoly on the estate was more of a burden than a convenience One of the biggest issues is the frequent outages the entire estate lost internet for more than 35 hours.” complained about a spate of protracted service outages over the past few years “People are losing out on days’ wages; people are not able to make calls or be in contact with family members of friends and when we make communication with FibreNest we’re not getting any response back or any updates that we’re happy with,” said Sophie FibreNest has since apologised for the service problems and added that a “good quality connection is our highest priority,” albeit while acknowledging the lack of choice and adding that the decision to join their network at wholesale would ultimately be a “commercial” one for other providers we were created to ensure there is a high-quality broadband service immediately available when people move into their new home The value of this service is reflected by our customer satisfaction scores which are significantly higher than other large national providers.” which will be running much of their new fibre via Openreach’s ducts and poles As for FibreNest’s wholesale proposition it’s possible that the network operator may not yet have built enough scale to make it attractive enough for other ISPs to join (onboarding a new network isn’t cheap and this one is in the sub-100k premises passed territory) FibreNest’s own commercials / pricing may simply have been set at a level that is unattractive for other providers Frustrated residents have now switched tactics and managed to get support from local MP Mike Martin (Lib Dem) who is doing what he can to raise their plight with the UK government and trying to encourage Openreach to help improve the situation “It is outrageous residents are forced to put up with poor broadband connection and have no choice of supplier,” said Mike But there’s currently no sign of any solutions I live 5 mins away from there and my only option for connectivity is starlink I’d give my left arm to get FTTP connectivity The fact I can see the Trooli office from my bedroom window isn’t lost on me either… What about seemingly unreliable FTTP connectivity the wholesale product is unlikely to make the experience substantially better it’s mostly certainly going to affect retail and wholesale customers in the same way Add it to the “Reasons not to buy a newbuild” list… Starlink is a result of poor terrestrial infrastructure (Lets be honest mostly because of a lack of competition in the US) but would seem to be the only viable fix here but off-hand I recall reading that they were able to offer a deeper option here than just regular wholesale I absolutely concur that there are just too many horror stories out there about the absurd shortcomings of some new builds… but if – as will be the case for many – it’s a choice between a new build or not having a home of one’s own then in a sense it’s not much of a choice at all The underlying issue here is the all too common crappy quality (along with bland and unimaginative design often accompanied by an uninspired car-centric focus) of new build estates If the new government does succeed in getting Britain building it’d be great if said building could be done a bit better @binary the problem with new build quality is probably down to the fact that developers are allowed to sign off on their own work and not by building control at the local council – a recipe for abuse if their ever was one People knew that Fibre Nest was the provider when they bought their home and it should have been obvious that a rival was unlikely to roll out any infrastructure given all current internet users would be in a contract If they had no fibre nest they’d be moaning about not having any fibre at all That is one of the most ludicrous things I have ever read prospective home owners should have understood that it was unlikely that a competitor would ever be able to provide service on a Persimmon-built estate (by design!) But there is a known housing shortage and in many cases Openreach will happily work with any new site developer to install duct and other FTTP infrastructure on any new build estates Unless they are locked out by the Developer These types of practices should be investigated by the CMA and outlawed with new legislation incorrect the developer would have bave been paid to have fibre infrastructure privided -(under the SOD process)- in this case persimmon chose their in house provider with no choice ever rather than an open access provider offering choice to the residents Most people would expect to be able to get a “phone” line from British Telecom and/or move their broadband contract to their new address – whatever happened to the BT universal service obligation If it’s going to cost more than a few grand to connect an address then they are entitled to pass the remainder onto the applicant Given that the streets on the estate are probably under the control of the developer then that will add to those costs They are also permitted to use other technologies to provide that 10Mbps minimum service If I’ve read the terms and conditions correctly they can also decline to serve properties that have access to an altnet BT (Openreach) can’t deliver where the developer still owns the streets and infrastructure and refuses to allow access or give permission to install If it’s not adopted they would have to take the developer or management company to court to access the development But if other providers came in with poles or digging up the roads people moaned about KCOM monopoly but went crazy when new infrastructure was built 100% agree I live on a fibre nest development and apart from the price and initial service its been fine I get the advertised speeds over 900 down 110 up What I find is the issue sometimes is the tech savviness of those making some complaints they pay for the lowest possible speeds and complain when there kids playstation phones and their dodgy fire sticks star to buffer and have issues When the council eventually adopts the estate I would be furious if someone came and stuck a telegraph pole in the front of my property I won’t deny I am delouse of the original estate which mile was built off of recently being connected by BRSK but they are still on a 35Mbps at best VDSL connection so I would rather of had Fibrenest in that instance If they have decent 5G on the estate a 5G router could be an option EE has 5g coverage (parts of estate at least) haven’t checked the others (too much work to prove a point) @Mark could have checked for that (as a journalist) when writing up the main article So most houses are not without a value priced option (as a fallback for WFH) even though wholesale fibre is not available (i.e unless I have guessed the address wrong–less of an issue for 4G/5G of course What makes it ‘cost prohibitive’ in this case Lots of places have had “significant disruptive civil engineering work” in order for fibre networks to be installed @John there could be many reasons as follows If you look at VM how close is their existing network to the build Does it need upgraded to support the additional homes on the network (most likely yes) Are there any major carriageway digs in the area Can they agree with persimmon to allow them to bring their own network in post build before handed over to the council If yes then it will require full width reinstatement rather than the normal dig Could they agree with persimmon/ fibre nest to pull their network through the ducting owned by persimmon/ fibrenest if yes no doubt fibrenest will charge a hefty price But even if they get in how much off-site work is required This scenario is true of both OR and any other alnet in the area It really isn’t financially viable and I would say that neither VM or OR want to work too closely with fibrenest who are cowboys who took advantage of a situation many years ago and seen pound signs for their business model The developer will still own the streets in the estate and will either refuse access or demand vast sums into allow infrastructure other than their own to be installed why does a house builder even want to be in the ISP business Virgin and Cityfibre when you build the estate get the materials free of charge and even get paid to install them and then enjoy the internet connectivity not being your problem They see other businesses making money from ‘their’ estate and decide to grab it for themselves Yep that’s my understanding currently on a persimmon estate and there are no signs of council adoption any time soon however we have a few clued up individuals on the estate who challenge persimmons actions for example we was shown the tendering details of the management contract and how the successful party was awarded Seeing the councils handy work I do wonder if its better the devil you know sometimes This is where OpenReach should get HMG money to put in the necessary ducting to provide the ‘competitive’ service for other companies to provide FTTP Agree with Steve Scott – a reason not to buy on that or similar estates Argument about not buying on new estate is a b*ll shit because in many cases you have no other option OR (or anyone else) will not build new ducts on these estates simply because the land is not owned by local council – yes there are no lease holds anymore but there is a service charge for maintaining everything around your home Yet another loophole nobody want to do anything with This will happen more and more over the years as people realise they can’t switch to Sky or BT What if I told you that you can switch to Sky on OFNL but if there is an outage it is always about underlying OFNL network not the ISP itself I can’t think of many more pressing problems than fixing the NHS and addressing the housing crisis @NE555: And how they perform on fixing those problems The new government has been in power for less than seven months The Competition and Markets Authority should investigate I suspect this one may be too small to even register on their radar But Ofcom’s next market review might have a small interest although again I’m not sure if they’re big enough to warrant intervention It is not “this one” only Mark the problem is country wide on almost every new estate This time it is about Persimmon (again) but the same issue is elsewhere with OFNL MS3 and recently Pulse Fibre joined the party I meant “FibreNest” as a whole as they’re the subject of the article But it should be said that in quite a few other areas there can still be ADSL/FTTC via OR as a fallback is still a choice and thus the monopoly argument isn’t as strong as in cases like the one above but that’s a different ballgame and variable performance makes it really hard to pin down (signal coverage alone doesn’t tell you how fast the data connection is etc.) You can also add Talk Talk and Hyperoptic to the list of culprits Persimmon and ofnl have more than 300k each They are not small in any measure unless you are only comparing to open reach or virgin 5G is my best available option (FTTC currently only available at 36Mbps My Samknows box (yes I still have one and it still reports) rarely dips below 100Mbps I don’t pay a lot of attention to latency (as it is not essential for my usage including videoconferencing and light HD streaming) 700m near LoS from mast (only mast that covers the area for 5G) I probably could get even better service if I put up external aerial on redundant TV aerial pole In recent months EE has also provisioned 5G from same mast (O2/Voda also in town but don’t offer service and anyway their mast is further away I think councils could solve this by insisting they won’t adopt a road without openreach or other open access ducting in (with the terms and conditions conveniently matching the pia specs) I don’t think that would be illegal It would even work on existing roads waiting for adoption developers would be incentivised into forcing thier telecoms arm to offer access under PIA equivalent terms Councils won’t adopt it at all because they can charge council tax without providing services as the land remains private and is maintained by contractors paid through service charges I thought many developers like to keep control of the roads and charge hefty service charges for the privilege of maintaining and repairing them As far as I’m aware highway code rules apply wherever the general public has access so for example you couldn’t get drunk then go driving round & round your local Tesco car park Where the developer has a financial interest in controlling and limiting access to other providers they should be compelled to share the ducts via a pia arrangement just another exaple of why there should simply be a harmonised national fiber replacement or addition to copper so stopping all such squables of actual infra providers and would then mirror gas and electricity (odd water doesnt have a simmilar middle ) and rail ‘sellers’ model of common infrastructure + service who ever in their right mind would allow such a mess of a nationally needed infrastructure developers have difficulty nowadays building walls that are straight rooves and shower units that don’t leak windows and doors that open and close properly and choosing building sites away from reclaimed land with sink holes .and you are expecting them to move several points up the brain-surgeon Benobo scale and start getting household electrics and FTTP right when there’s no on-site Clerk-of-Works during the construction process and self-certification for completion of many jobs Definate pain in the shareholders fanny stuff to get all the above right first time Comments RSS Feed Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Kadie McKenzie failed to turn up at school in Kent I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Police are growing concerned for a missing schoolgirl who was last seen walking with a mysterious hooded figure vanished from Paddock Wood in Kent after being captured on CCTV walking with unknown man She was last seen at around 9.15am on Tuesday on Maidstone Road in an area close to the Transfesa Road industrial units. Kent Police said she was walking with an unknown male in the direction of Paddock Wood town centre. The force described Kadie as white, of slim build, around 5ft 4in and has brown straight hair. She was wearing her school uniform, including a blue tartan skirt, along with a black coat with fur around the hood, black tights and shoes. She was also carrying a black bag. A Kent Police spokesman said: “There are concerns for Kadie’s welfare, who has connections to Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge.” Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call 999, quoting reference 11-0227. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies There is a public consultation on the Local Plan for Tunbridge Wells with just days for people to have their say on proposed modifications The consultation launched on March 17 and ends on April 30 but its contents directly affect people who live and work in the borough It earmarks land for many uses including for new homes and a "greater mix" of potential uses of the Royal Victoria Place shopping centre including homes but also recognising the opportunities in this location for additional town centre uses focused around the park and enhancements to the public realm and legibility." There is a shake-up of sports provision in the plan with this new paragraph: "The playing pitch strategy (PPS) prepared on behalf of the council looks in detail at the existing provision of sports pitches quality and configuration for providing for the future population taking into account housing and population growth and demographics to be re-provided at a new ‘sports hub’ at Hawkenbury offering two senior pitches (one of which to be 4G/Stadium quality) The strategy is reflected within the following site allocations which detail the individual sites and proposed future uses." The garden settlement at Tudeley, between Paddock Wood and Tonbridge to mark the change in development strategy and following a planning inspector's response to an earlier draft a minimum of 12,204 new homes must be built One of the ways this will be achieved is through "the major transformational expansion of Paddock Wood It says a "masterplan" will be needed for the urban expansion of Paddock Wood Also needed will be "significant transport measures" to support this growth And there will be "some reductions" in Green Belt, notably land in east Capel, next to Paddock Wood, and as already in the plan, around Royal Tunbridge Wells and Pembury Some 3.046 per cent of Green Belt in the borough has been "de-designated" The plan now says: "The council recognises the local and national importance of the Green Belt and the important role it has the council considers that there are the exceptional circumstances to alter the boundaries of the Green Belt to remove land from the designation for the proposed development at Paddock Wood (including land at east Capel) at a few sites around Royal Tunbridge Wells (particularly at North Farm/Kingstanding Way) Land which has lost Green Belt status in hectares: Total Green Belt removed - 217.272 (536 acres) and associated improvements at Badsell Road roundabout; Somerhill roundabout improvements; traffic management improvements at Five Oak Green; Hop Farm roundabout improvements; and junctions on the Pembury Road corridor including capacity improvements at Woodsgate Corner and "an appropriate junction" at Pembury Road/Halls Hole Road/Blackhurst Lane along with windfall sites and those with planning permission create around 10,605 to 11,040 homes The council said it was confident it could meet a 10-year housing land supply could be achieved following the plan's adoption For more details on this consultation and for how to comment visit the council’s website and click on the Consultation on Proposed Main Modifications webpage. Get more Tunbridge Wells news from KentLive straight to your inbox for free HERE A road improvement scheme to serve a community "overwhelmed" by housing has been deferred to make it fit for purpose where 1,000 new homes are being delivered by three separate developers were to be undertaken by Kent County Council (KCC) The £4.7m cost of the scheme at Mascalls court Road was collected through section 106 contributions from the house builders The improvements to the A228/B2017 and B2017/B2160 junctions will now require a larger roundabout and extra land A new traffic-signalled crossroads design near Mascalls Academy has also proved problematic New flood mapping by the Environment Agency meant planners now have to find a way of redirecting surface water entering a culvert section Papers before the Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee on February 25 state KCC's predicament: "This is a difficult situation and the way forward is a clear choice of either progressing this amended scheme or not carrying out an improvement at all "Abandoning the scheme has been rejected because this would result in no mitigation or improved accessibility to support the major housing developments in Paddock Wood delivering nearly 1,000 homes "Officers and our consultant have been unable to identify any other scheme that can offer a better solution to that being proposed that can also mitigate the flood risk told the committee: "The impact of development in Paddock Wood has been overwhelming and the impact on the highways network is overwhelming too." She warned that "we must get it right" in terms of flooding Vegetation clearance will take place almost immediately to avoid the bird nesting season and quotes are to be obtained from the supply chain during March and April The council papers state: "The improvement of the A228/B2017 and B2017/B2160 junctions are important schemes to provide increased capacity and improve accessibility to help mitigate three large housing developments in Paddock Wood "After considerable flood risk modelling and scheme development work an amended scheme has been developed that will still provide the increased traffic capacity and accessibility improvements that were the objectives of the original proposal." Construction will start this summer and work is estimated to take between four and six months Police are investigating after a man was left with a broken jaw after being attacked with a beer bottle in Kent The incident is alleged to have taken place on Maidstone Road The victim was taken to a local hospital after the attack which took place near the town's fire station Officers are keen to speak to any witnesses to the assault which is reported to have taken place at around 11pm on Monday He was charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent and appeared before Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court on the following day pending a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday 2 January 2025 officers remain keen to speak to anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 By 2024-11-25T12:44:00+00:00 Esquires Coffee will continue its focus on out-of-town suburban locations rather than city centres for its estate expansion The coffee chain, owned by New Zealand-based franchise operator Cooks Coffee Company, currently has more than 70 sites across the UK with a recent growth push seeing the opening of 17 new outlets. It previous unveiled a target of 80 UK stores by the end of its financial year in March 2025 with latest plans being to roughly double its locations over the next three years Esquires has now revealed it is pursuing further growth in regions including Southeast England and the East Midlands its total UK sales leapt by around a fifth to £17.5m with new stores accounting for 12% of this figure The brand said it was attempting to capitalise on the rise in remote and hybrid working through its suburban locations where consumers seek local options for coffee Many of its newest sites are in residential areas where coffee shops have become key community hubs – in fact larger property developments often have the planning requirement of café as a social outlet Esquires aims to stand out from competition with a focus on a fresh organic coffee sourced through a long-standing partnership with one of the UK and Ireland’s leading suppliers “We’ve got the largest pipeline we’ve had to date in the UK and we see that the brand has really strong potential to reach more communities,” commented Esquires CEO Aiden Keegan We don’t particularly want to be in central business districts or city centres “We’re happier in the suburbs where people working from home want to visit a cafe to work – we see a lot of people in our stores with earbuds on their laptops – or for a break This means we get bigger spend and longer dwell time than in more central locations,” Keegan added Entry costs for suburban stores are generally lower than in central business districts which is looking to relocate its headquarters to the UK its franchise model allowed for single-store investment at a lower entry cost means a wider range of potential franchisees could realise their dream of owning a business The UK’s coffee boom appears to be still in full swing with the British Coffee Association reporting that the nation drinks about 98 million cups of the drink every day while 80% of people who visit coffee shops do so at least once a week Register now Site powered by Webvision Cloud Sign up for a weekly travel round up and all the latest breaking news from the roads rails and beyond delivered straight to your inbox Roads in Paddock Road will be closed throughout the school summer holidays during major water works The six-week closures will be in place for the second phase of a £900,000 project to upgrade the area's water supply South East Water is laying 430 metres of new water main along Gedges Hill and a further 650 metres in Chantler’s Hill The first 180 metres of the pipeline was put in place over Easter The drinking water supplier says it will now be completed over six weeks It said Gedges Hill and Chantler’s Hill will need to be closed during the work READ MORE:7 of the most scenic villages in Kent that are perfect for a day out this summer READ MORE: Stunning park in Kent seaside town named one of the country's best said: “This vital project will ensure we can continue to supply top quality drinking water and maintain pressure to existing customers as the community grows We know road closures are disruptive and frustrating and they are a last resort "We’re aiming to complete the second and final phase of the project within the school summer holidays and between 8am and 4pm on Saturdays." He added: "“We’d like to thank the community for their patience during phase one of the project which was completed during the school Easter holidays and for their ongoing support while we carry out this vital work to ensure we can continue supplying top quality drinking water." Diversions will be in place while the roads are closed. All businesses will be open as usual. Find out more at southeastwater.co.uk/gedgeshill A resident has warned a rural junction in Kent which is unlit has no warning signs and is 60mph on each approach has caused a string of night-time accidents Steve Smith came to KentLive with his concerns as he said he had tried raising it before with "the authorities" He has kept a note of accidents he knew about during the past year or so The junction is outside Paddock Wood and it's a convergence of Mile Oak Road Mr Smith said the junction had seen a rise in traffic He said: "The approaches to the junctions from any direction are at the national speed limit of 60mph, and there are no road signs to indicate for them apart from a bent and twisted sign on Church Road) or street lighting." "I consider the junctions highly dangerous and with the prospect of increased traffic when the planned housing projects in the surrounding area begin there will be an increase in the possibilities of collisions." "All of the incidents I have been aware of have happened at night although I have been told of incidents happening during the day There has been an increase of traffic at these junctions mainly morning and evenings particularly HGV's," said Mr Smith He said the true number of accidents at the junction was unlikely to be known or recorded: "It should be no surprise that not all road accidents are reported and not all reported accidents are recorded particularly if there has been no injuries or only a single vehicle is involved as the driver would not want to lose their no claims bonus if they have one." Another reason he said could be that drivers simply exchange insurance details and leave the scene without reporting the incident Kent County Council said in its statement that he should raise it with his local parish or town councillors who might add it to their own highway improvement priorities Mr Smith shared the incidents he had noted: A spokesperson for Kent County Council told us: "When reviewing requests for changes to the highway we always look first at the reported crashes involving injury from the previous three years to see if there are any patterns This crash remedial work is in line with statutory guidance the data shows no recorded pattern of injury crashes at the Pearsons Green/Mile Oak Road/Church Road junction." The county council said approaching the local council might be a good way for Mr Smith to see action we don't only intervene with highway changes as a result of our crash remedial programme - we also pride ourselves on working with our locally elected officials to listen to the community's voice." "We suggest raising this particular local highway concern with the elected parish council for the area They will determine if it should be added to their Highway Improvement Plan priorities they will contact us and inform us of the extent of community support for the change." Never get stuck in a jam again with our FREE traffic and travel email for KentLive readers. Find out more here. A 200m sheet pile wall will be constructed along the railway line near Teston approximately 1km from East Farleigh station on the Medway Valley line from Thursday 31 October to Sunday 3 November The wall will stop soil and debris from reaching the track in the event of a landslip caused by flooding or heavy rain.   Worn rail will be replaced with brand new rails at Maidstone West.  The work means that from Thursday 31 October through to Sunday 3 November (inclusive) buses will replace trains between Paddock Wood and Maidstone West Landslips can cause a lot of disruption and cause delays A train can’t swerve to avoid debris on the line so when there is debris on the tracks after a landslip This is why the work at Teston is crucial to prevent future delays.   When work is taking place services between Paddock Wood and Strood will start and terminate at Maidstone West.   Accessible replacement bus services will operate between:  Network Rail Kent Route director said: “It’s important that we identify the sites prone to landslips to ensure that we keep passengers safe.   need to be strengthened by improving drainage or adding stronger materials to the slope itself such as the sheet pile wall at Teston.   we expect to improve resilience of the line as we come into the autumn Please plan ahead and check your journey with nationalrail.co.uk.”  Southeastern Operations and Safety director said: “We fully support the need to carry out this prevention work at a site more prone to the risk of landslips which can lead to debris on the track and significant unplanned disruption We will be running replacement buses to all the stations between Paddock Wood and Maidstone West over the four days of the line closure “Please check before you travel and thanks in advance for bearing with us while this essential work is carried out.”  to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years By 2024-11-29T11:42:00+00:00 Coffee shop chain Esquires Coffee is planning to double its store estate by targeting home and hybrid workers The chain currently has 70 franchise branches across the UK and wants to grow that number to 140-150 by the end of 2027 Esquires Coffee wants to stand out from the “UK’s busy café market” by expanding in suburban and regional outlets rather than city locations The choice of suburban locations also brings a significant saving for the chain with entry costs generally lower than central business districts Esquires already has a presence in the south east of England It has opened 17 new outlets over the past six months and plans to open 10 more by the end of the financial year in March 2025 “You’ll never see us on Oxford Street. We’re not going high street and we don’t particularly want to be in central business districts or city centres” said Esquires chief executive Aiden Keegan “We’re happier in the suburbs where people working from home want to visit a café to work – we see a lot of people in our stores with earbuds on their laptops – or for a break This means we get bigger spend and longer dwell time than in more central locations.” owned by New Zealand-based Cooks Coffee Group saw its total sales increase by a fifth to £17.5m for the financial year ending March 2023 more than a quarter of working adults in Great Britain (28%) were hybrid working in the autumn of 2024 Sign in to comment on this article Learn moreExplore related questionsDiscover more about the topics that matter most Browse our suggested questions or ask your own to find out more An extremely rare albino squirrel has been spotted in a Kent garden The spectacular sight of the squirrel enjoying some bird food was captured by the home owner It said the albino squirrel takes its name from albinism caused by a genetic mutation which stops melanin production This means there is an absence of pigmentation in the skin The squirrels which have leucism means there is only partial loss of pigmentation They can have patchy fur with grey or brown areas. Resident David Cuthbert, who captured his furry-tailed visitor in the above photograph, told KentLive: "I first saw it in the garden at the end of October and it has been a regular visitor ever since onto our bird feeders and the photo was from our kitchen window about six feet away It's out in the garden now eating the bird seed on the grass." but I had never seen an albino squirrel until now," he said He added the squirrel had "typical pink The oft-reported information that there are fewer than 50 albino squirrels in the country is hard to pin down to a source says a squirrel being born albino is a one in 100,000 occurrence If you've photographed an albino squirrel in Kent, please send your photo and some details to mary.harris@reachplc.com This is due to planned works between Faversham Margate and Ramsgate which will close all lines along the route rail replacement buses will be in operation to accommodate journeys over the weekend Multiple busy Kent lines will be impacted by these works, the full details of which can be found below. Then, on Sunday, buses will replace trains in the Bromley South area due to works that will again close multiple lines Rail replacement buses will be in service between Paddock Wood and Strood as well on Sunday, affecting travel via Maidstone West Finally there will be no trains to or from London Charing Cross and London Waterloo East on Sunday See below for the full details on all of these works Engineering works will be taking place between Faversham Sole Street Line: Trains between London Victoria and Ramsgate via Chatham will only run between London Victoria and Faversham; Highspeed via Gravesend: Trains between London St Pancras International and Ramsgate via Faversham will only run between London St Pancras International and Faversham; Trains between London St Pancras International and Margate via Canterbury West are not affected by this work Sole Street Line: Trains between London Victoria and Ramsgate via Chatham will only run between London Victoria and Faversham These trains will be retimed to run by an alternative route between London Victoria and Swanley because of further engineering work; Highspeed via Ashford International: Trains between London St Pancras International and Margate via Canterbury West will only run between London St Pancras International and Ramsgate Due to engineering works around Bromley South all lines through the station will close on Sunday (February 9) Bromley South Line: Trains between London Victoria and Orpington will only run between London Victoria and Beckenham Junction; Sole Street Line: Trains between London Victoria and Faversham/Dover Priory via Chatham will be retimed and diverted to run non-stop between London Victoria/Denmark Hill and St Mary Cray/Swanley; Maidstone East line: Trains between London Victoria and Ashford via Maidstone East will be retimed and diverted to run non-stop between London Victoria and St Mary Cray Passengers travelling to or from Bromley South will need to use Thameslink services between Swanley and Bromley South to connect with these diverted trains Trains between London Victoria and Ramsgate will only run between London Victoria and Faversham because of further engineering work Passengers can use Thameslink replacement bus services between Bromley South and Swanley services between London Victoria and Sevenoaks will run between Swanley and Sevenoaks only Replacement bus services will run between Herne Hill and Swanley via Catford These buses will not call at Nunhead or Ravensbourne Passengers can use London Buses to and from Nunhead and Ravensbourne Works will be taking place between Paddock Wood and Strood on Sunday (February 9) No trains will therefore run between these two stations Accessible replacement buses will run between: Paddock Wood and Maidstone West (a few early morning/late night buses will run to/from Tonbridge instead of Paddock Wood); Engineering work is taking place at London Waterloo East and London Charing Cross No trains will run to or from London Waterloo East or London Charing Cross Southeastern services will be affected as follows: Paddock Wood Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Ramsgate/Dover Priory via Tonbridge will be diverted to run to/from London Cannon Street; Hastings Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Hastings will run to/from London Cannon Street; Grove Park Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Sevenoaks via Grove Park will run to/from Cannon Street; Sidcup Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Dartford/Gravesend via Sidcup will run to/from Cannon Street; Hayes Line: Trains between London Charing Cross and Hayes will run to/from London Cannon Street instead; Bexleyheath Line: Trains from London Cannon Street to Slade Green via Bexleyheath will be retimed to run 3 minutes earlier than normal Passengers can use London Underground between Victoria Southwark and London Bridge at no extra cost Get the latest rail updates from around Kent with our FREE traffic and travel email for KentLive readers. Find out more here. A Tonbridge school has closed for the day following an unexpected water leak. The closure of Mascalls Academy came as a surprise to some with students who had already left for school needing to turn back home Without a water supply, the school cannot safely open with Southern Water on site to work to repair the leak This means the supply has been completely shut off to the school The school offered support for students who needed help getting home Students have been issued work to do from home 'Restricted zone' placed across Kent as map shows Bluetongue disease spreading Van 'deliberately rammed vehicles' on A2 It is not yet known when the school might reopen Staff are monitoring the situation and will issue further updates once the premises are safe to return A statement issued by head teacher Jo Brooks which reads: "Mascalls Academy will be closed today 23rd September 2024 due to an unexpected water leak that occurred outside the school grounds overnight Southern Water is currently working to repair the leak but this process will require shutting off the water supply to the school "Unfortunately, without a reliable water supply, we cannot safely and effectively operate the school. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate that some students may already have left for school this morning if this is the case please can you inform us if you require support in arranging transport home "To ensure that our students continue their learning we will be posting their lessons on Google Classroom Please encourage your child to access these resources and complete the assigned tasks "We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as needed Thank you for your understanding and cooperation Get more news from KentLive straight to your inbox for free HERE. Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.