Road closed 22 times in two years faces more delay

The reopening of a road shut 22 times in two years has been delayed until April.

Chapel Lane in Sissinghurst, Kent, will miss its 20 March target by three weeks, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

South East Water has spent months laying new pipes in the road, but resident Sean Holden says it has now been degraded by the weather and potholes will have to be repaired.

Kent County Council (KCC) said it is prioritising the repair of roads that are open, but it will inspect Chapel Lane "in due course".

In a letter to the authority Mr Holden said: "Despite the huge inconvenience to residents, there seems to be no sense of urgency to help them out.

"Chapel Lane is a mess and needs repairs throughout its length. While the road is closed would be the ideal time to address the potholes."

Chris Love, delivery manager for South East Water said: "There have been some minor delays to the programme since we started in November, which has led us to an expected completion date of Friday 10 April.

"We have collaborated with Kent Highways at every step of this project in order to overcome any issues we have encountered with the schedule, including our joint efforts to pass a culvert in the road which set back our timeline.

"We have also integrated work on a separate scheme on Common Road in Sissinghurst into this project, in order to minimise any long term disruption.

"We're very sorry to any customers impacted by our vital projects in the area to replace over a kilometre of ageing burst-prone pipe and to install new equipment to aid in the supply of fresh drinking water to the area."

A KCC statement said: "An extension has been granted until 10 April due to the significant rainfall experienced in January, which resulted in delays to the reinstatement works.

"The affected area required continuous pumping to remove excess water before works could safely proceed.

"Our teams are currently prioritising repairs to potholes on roads that are open to the public.

"We will, however, be carrying out an inspection of this road in due course."

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