Heath Road

As a Parish Council, we share residents' concerns regarding the speed of traffic on Heath Road and this has been on our agenda for many years. Following the serious accident at the (then) zebra crossing in July 2018 we successfully lobbied for a speed limit reduction from 40 to 30mph. This was implemented in early 2021 and was paid for by the Parish Council. In addition, as a condition of the adjacent housing developer's planning permission, a signal controlled puffin crossing was also installed. In 2023, the Parish Council also paid for the installation of flashing 'wig wag' lights, either side of the crossing. These turn on automatically before school starts and finishes.

We are concerned that some motorists continue to drive faster than the 30mph speed limit. We are grateful the Police have been carrying out enforcement in the area for some time now and our volunteer Speedwatch team also carry out regular speed checks.

Update November 2025

Kent County Council is responsible for the local road network and the Parish Council has no power to make decisions on highway matters however we meet regularly with KCC Highways and our last meeting was held on 13th November. At this meeting we agreed to commission KCC to carry out initial design work for visual ‘narrowing’, visual ‘humps’ and coloured road surfacing to make the entry points to the 30mph section more visible to motorists and to hopefully encourage them to check their speed and slow down. Provided the cost of implementing this visual scheme is within the Parish Council’s financial means, we will proceed with the work.

You may be wondering why we can’t just install speed cameras, vehicle activated signs, physical traffic calming and the like. To help you understand what is and isn’t possible here is some further advice we have received from KCC :

• In addition to their statutory responsibilities, KCC also value the ability to be proactive in preventing collisions from occurring. It is acknowledged that looking at records and statistics alone does not tell the whole story and KCC recognise that, whilst prioritising their efforts based on known crash data is an established and sensible approach, not all problems will be highlighted using this approach. It is for this reason that the Highway Improvements Team introduced the Highway Improvement Plan (HIP) process a number of years ago which allows KCC to work closely with Parish Councils and County Councillors to help progress community initiated schemes in locations that do not achieve sufficient priority though KCC’s standard countywide assessments. Several years ago, through the HIP process, the Parish Council initiated and paid for the speed limit reduction on Heath Road from 40 to 30mph and the 20mph zone in the heart of the village.
• It is important to understand that even when certain measures are supported by a Parish Council, through their HIP, KCC is still restricted by what is legally, technically and physically possible at any given location
• We understand some residents have been experiencing vibration inside their homes. KCC do not conduct vibration assessments. It is the responsibility of the householder to demonstrate a vibration / noise issue and the in the past, residents with similar concerns have employed independent consultants to undertake assessments. This usually involves temporary measuring devices being attached to the properties in question
• Since June 2022, Kent Police has informed KCC of one serious and one slight personal injury collision along the section of Heath Road between Hubbards Lane and Church Street. Neither of these incidents were attributed to exceeding the speed limit. Given the number of collisions and the varying contributory factors on this section of road, this would generally not indicate a pattern that could easily be addressed by engineering measures and is why, to date, KCC have had to target their finite resources to delivering Crash Remedial Measures in other parts of the county where a pattern of crashes is occurring.
• Physical traffic calming, such as chicanes, is not something that can be considered for Heath Road, for several reasons. Firstly, KCC has an agreement with emergency service providers that traffic calming measures on classified A and B roads should not be installed due to the negative impact that this can have on response times. In addition, current legislation dictates that this type of traffic calming measure can only be installed in locations where street lighting is present, which is not the case along Heath Road. Note that the kerb build outs in Coxheath were installed prior to changes in legislation
• KCC has no powers of enforcement but it is encouraging that Kent Police have been carrying out regular speed checks. A Community Speedwatch program is also active in Boughton Monchelsea and volunteers operate at three different locations on Heath Road.
• KCC’s Traffic Operations and Technology Team have previously investigated the option of installing speed activated warning signs  on Heath Road  and this has been discussed extensively with the Parish Council. Unfortunately, the main barrier to installing electronic signs is a lack of reliable power supply, as the cost to install a dedicated mains connection would be prohibitively expensive for a non-mandatory asset. Consideration has also previously been given to use of portable speed indicator device (SID) equipment and battery powered vehicle activated signs (VAS) however there are numerous trees on the edge of the road, including those that have recently been coppiced but would regrow during the life of the sign. Tree cover means that solar powered devices would not receive the required light, rendering the signs ineffective. KCC have also advised that signs can only be installed on highway land, not private land and signs are considered an option of last resort, to be considered after all other measures (including road markings) have been tried and proven not to have had an effect.
• Fixed safety cameras are subject to strict Department for Transport criteria and can only be installed where three of more people have been killed or seriously injured in speed-related crashes, over a 1.5km stretch of road, in the three years prior to installation. Or where there has been a history of speed-related crashes at single sites or along a route where a robust investigation by the relevant local highway authority has determined a safety camera to be the most appropriate measure to mitigate evidenced crashes.

Whilst some of the advice we have received from KCC is disappointing we must focus on what we can do. Please be assured that the Parish Council is doing everything possible to improve the safety of our village roads for both pedestrians and drivers and we hope to be able to report positive progress in the coming months. In the meantime we will continue our regular volunteer Speedwatch operations.

If you have any queries or concerns regarding highway matters please feel free to contact us, we are always happy to talk to you clerk@boughtonmonchelsea-pc.gov.uk 01622 744969.