Council applies for money to fix collapsed road

The future of a main road closed due to a landslip will be "in the lap of the gods" if a bid for government funding is unsuccessful, according to a county councillor.

Kent County Council (KCC) said it would bid for government money to repair the A226 Galley Hill Road in Swanscombe, which partially collapsed in 2023.

The government has started accepting applications for shares of a £1bn fund, announced in 2024, for roads in England.

The council's cabinet member for highways, Peter Osborne, said the project "just needs to be done" and the authority had to "find the money somehow".

"I'm praying that we are going to get the money from the government's Structures Fund, but if we don't then it's in the lap of the gods," he told the BBC.

Repairs could cost as much as £50m and possible options include constructing a bridge or reinforcing the chalk which the road was originally built on.

The government has appointed consultants to support grant applicants ahead of an August deadline, and said it would announce funding decisions by the end of November.

It added that successful bids would see work completed by March 2030.

Jenny Yusufoglu, who runs a dry-cleaning business on the nearby High Street in Swanscombe, said the closure was affecting a "more and more populated" area as new homes were built.

"It's getting harder and harder for people to get their children to school," she said.

The council's highways and transportation strategic resilience manager Toby Howe said it was "really critical to get this road open again" because of the "horrendous" impact on local communities.

A KCC spokesperson called for "local MPs to use their influence in government to fully support this bid.

Dartford's Labour MP Jim Dickson said Swanscombe had been "waiting for more than three years for money to be on the table" for the road.

"It's up to Kent County Council to get a good bid into government to make sure that we can find the money, end the chaos and actually get work underway," he said.

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