Consultation Report · Kent County Council 1 Consultation Report November to 2 December 20195 Alternative ... KCC’s project team, are working together in close liaison with Swale

A2 London Road, Teynham

Carriageway Realignment Proposal

Between Station Road and Cellar Hill

Kent County Council 1

Consultation Report

5 November to 2 December 2019 Alternative Formats: This document can be made available in other formats or languages, please email

[email protected] or telephone 03000 421553 (text relay service 18001 03000 421553). This number goes to an

answer machine, which is monitored during office hours.

mailto:[email protected]





Contents

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4

1.1 Background .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.2 Purpose of the Consultation ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 5

1.3 Purpose of this Report .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5

2 Consultation Process ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6

2.1 Pre-Consultation Activities ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

2.2 Promoting the Consultation ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

2.3 Consultation Material .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8

2.4 Feedback Mechanism .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

3 Equality and Accessibility ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

3.3 Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9

4 Response Profile ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11

4.1 Respondent Demographics ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

4.1.1 Age ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 11

4.1.3 Disability ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 12

4.1.4 Carer ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13





4.2 Respondent Groups .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14

4.2.1 Q1. Please tell us in what capacity you are completing this questionnaire: ....................................................................................................... 14

4.3 Respondent Locations ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 15

4.3.1 Q2. Please tell us the first five characters of your postcode......................................................................................................................... 15

5 Consultation Results ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

5.1 Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the A2 London Road, Teynham carriageway realignment scheme? .......................... 16

5.2 Q4a. Please tell us the reason for your answer...................................................................................................................................................... 17

5.3 Q5. We have completed an initial Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) for the proposals put forward in this consultation. ....................... 19

5.4 Q6. How did you find out about the consultation?.................................................................................................................................................. 21

6 Next Steps ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 22





1. Introduction

1.1 Background

From 5th November to 2nd December 2019, Kent County Council (KCC) consulted on proposals for highway improvements on the

A2 London Road, Teynham.

At present, the visibility of the village is poor when approaching from the east (Faversham) on the A2 London Road owing to the

hill. The speed limit change between the national and 30mph speed limit is located at the eastern gateway entrance to the village.

The existing road layout does not encourage drivers to slow down through the village, instead motorists are able to maintain the

speeds through the existing traffic calming measures.

The works proposed complements works carried out at the eastern gateway of London Road to provide new gateway markings and

buildouts to slow traffic entering Teynham on the A2 from Faversham.

There are large housing estates being built at Station Road in Teynham and the existing footpath will require an upgrade in the

crossing facility linking to the bus stops on London Road. The aim of the scheme is to improve the quality of the existing highway,

make it safer by reducing traffic speeds and provide an informal pedestrian crossing point.

KCC’s project team, are working together in close liaison with Swale Borough Council (SBC), Teynham and Lynsted with

Kingsdown Parish Councils. The consultation was carried out at the feasibility design stage to provide residents and stakeholders

with the opportunity to provide feedback on the scheme before plans are finalised for detailed design and construction.





1.2 Purpose of the Consultation

The purpose of the public consultation was to inform the public and stakeholder organisations about the proposed design in order

to provide them with the opportunity to ‘Have their say’ and to help KCC gain feedback to inform changes or improvements to the

scheme. The consultation gave the opportunity to:

• Understand why changes are being proposed to the A2 through the village of Teynham

• Consider the possible impacts and benefits of the proposed scheme

• Ask questions and share views on the proposals.

1.3 Purpose of this Report

This report presents the analysis and findings of the responses to the public consultation on the proposals. In addition, the report

summarises the consultation process and the engagement and promotional activities that took place. The report also states how

the feedback will be used to progress the proposal and identifies the next steps in the project development process.





2 Consultation Process

This chapter outlines the process followed to deliver the consultation and details the activities and documentation developed to support the delivery of the consultation. The consultation was divided into the five stages. Detailed information on each section is given below.

Undertake Equality Impact Assessment

(see Chapter 3)

Develop consultation process & promotional

activities

Pre-consultation activity/ engagement

During consultation activity Post consultation

activity

• Identify possible

impacts on

protected

characteristic

groups

• Identify stakeholders

• Define consultation

activities

• Define communication

activities and

frequencies

• Presentation to

Teynham and Lynsted

with Kingsdown

Parish Council

• Meeting with Swale

Borough Council and

Local KCC Member

• Consultation documents delivered

to businesses and residents in

and around London Road,

Teynham

• Posters displayed on lamp posts

and in local businesses

• Launched consultation website

and online questionnaire

• Information and hard copy

questionnaires displayed in

Teynham library

• Article in the Winter edition of

Teynham News and Facebook

page

• Press release issued

• Responded to queries

• Analysis and reporting of consultation responses

• Feedback to consultees and stakeholders





Consultation poster

2.1 Pre-Consultation Activities

A drop-in session with representatives from Teynham and Lynsted with Kingsdown Parish Council was held Wednesday 31st July

2019 at Teynham Community Hall. A further session was held Friday 30th August 2019 with the Local Member for Swale and

District Councillors to discuss the scheme and undertake a review of the scheme objectives.

These meetings helped identify local concerns, aspiration and site limitations. The information from these meetings informed the

design of the proposed scheme. These meetings also identified issues beyond the remit of this project. This information will be

feedback to the appropriate teams at KCC.

2.2 Promoting the Consultation

The consultation process was developed by KCC with the aim of involving residents, road

users and interested parties in the development of our proposals, drawing on local

knowledge and expertise.

The following promotional activities were undertaken to support the delivery of the

public consultation:

• Press release issued 5th November 2019.

• Consultation poster displayed in local shops, business and public places.

• Article in Teynham Parish Council’s parish magazine.

• Page on KCC’s Consultation Directory on Kent.gov.uk and email invite sent to 231

registered users.





Teynham Parish Council Facebook page

• Consultation booklets and questionnaires delivered to residents, businesses, Teynham

and Lynsted with Kingsdown Parish Council and Teynham Parochial CofE Primary

School.

• Consultation posters, booklets and questionnaires in Teynham Library.

• Posted on Teynham Parish Council Facebook page (the post received four likes, but no

further comments were made).

2.3 Consultation Material

Hard copies of the consultation material were available at Teynham Library throughout the

consultation and delivered to residents most impacted by the scheme. Copies could also be

downloaded from the consultation webpage www.kent.gov.uk/teynham or delivered on request.

✓ In total the consultation booklet was downloaded 73 times in PDF format and 19 times in Word format.

✓ The Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA) was downloaded 32 times in Word format.

✓ The consultation questionnaire Word version was downloaded 35 times.

✓ The scheme plan was downloaded 288 times and poster 7 times.

2.4 Feedback Mechanism

People were asked to provide feedback via a consultation questionnaire, which was available online and in a paper version. The

paper version was available at Teynham Library and on request via telephone or email.

http://www.kent.gov.uk/teynham





3 Equality and Accessibility

3.3 Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA)

The EqIA provides a process to help us to understand how the proposals may affect people based on their protected characteristics

(age, disability, sex, gender identity, race, religion / belief or none, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil

partnership and carer’s responsibilities).

An EqIA was completed prior to commencement of the consultation and was available as one of the consultation documents during

the consultation at kent.gov.uk/teynham. This document was downloaded 32 times in Word format.

We will use the feedback gathered from the consultation to update the EqIA before the outline design is finalised.

The following steps were defined in the Action Plan and additions were made as the project developed. All were taken to ensure

the consultation was accessible to all:

• In addition to the consultation being available online, hard copies of the online questionnaire were posted to residents

located on London Road.

• Hard copies of the consultation booklet, questionnaire was available at Teynham Library throughout the consultation period.

• All publicity material included a phone number and email address for people to request hard copies and alternative formats

of the consultation material.

• Word versions of the consultation booklet, EqIA and questionnaire were provided to ensure accessibility of documentation to

consultees using audio transcription software.

http://www.kent.gov.uk/a20harrietsham





• Teynham and Lynsted with Kingsdown Parish Council and Teynham Library acted as a delivery station for completed hard

copy questionnaires.

Equality analysis of the consultation data was undertaken (Chapter 5) to identify any new issues that would impact a protected

characteristic group. The EqIA will be updated to consider outcomes of this consultation and will be available online at

www.kent.gov.uk/teynham.

http://www.kent.gov.uk/teynham





4 Response Profile

This chapter summarises the number of consultation responses received and who responded to the consultation.

There was a total of 59 responses to the consultation. 57 were received online and two were hard copy responses.

4.1 Respondent Demographics

The following section documents the demographics of the

respondents. This data was collated using the ‘About You’

questions in the questionnaire.

Please note: sometimes the percentages of respondents

agreeing or disagreeing with a proposal will not add up to

100%. This is because some of the figures have been

automatically rounded up or down to the nearest percentage

point. It is not a fault with the data.

4.1.1 Age

• 20% (12) of respondents were aged between 35-49

• 19% (11) of respondents were aged between 50-59 and 65-74

• 12% (7) of respondents preferred not to disclose their age.

2

4

1211

6

11

67

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16-24 25-34 35-49 50-59 60-64 65-74 75-84 I prefernot to

say

Q8. Which of these age groups applies to you?

Total

Respondents by Age





Respondents by Sex

16

736

Q7. Are you... ?

Female

I prefer not to say

Male

4.1.2 Sex

• 61% (36) of respondents were male

• 27% (16) of respondents were female

• 12% (7) of respondents preferred not to state their sex.

Results are shown as a pie chart to the right.

4.1.3 Disability

• 81% (48) of respondents did not consider themselves

having a disability

• 19% (11) preferred not to say.

Results are shown as a pie chart to the right.

11

48

Q9. Do you consider yourself to be disabled as set out in the Equality Act

2010?

I prefer not to say

No

Respondents by Disability





4.1.4 Carer

• 66% (39) of responded did not consider themselves as

a Carer of a family member or friend

• 10% (6) identified as a Carer

• 24% (14) preferred not to say or did not answer the

question.

Results are shown as a bar chart to the right.

2

12

39

6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

I prefer not tosay

Left blank No Yes

Q10. Are you a Carer?

Total

Respondent by Carer





11

68

27

1

6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

A LondonRoad

residentbetween

Station Roadand Cellar

Hill

A Parish /District or

CountyCouncillor

A residentfrom

somewhereelse in Kent

A residentfrom

Teynham

On behalf ofa charity,

voluntary orcommunity

sectororganisation

(VCS)

Other

Q1. Please tell us in what capacity you are completing this questionnaire

Total

4.2 Respondent Groups

4.2.1 Q1. Please tell us in what capacity you are

completing this questionnaire:

• 46% (27) of respondents were residents of Teynham

• 19% (11) of respondents were London Road

residents between Cellar Hill and Station Road

• 10% (6) of respondents were from the

Parish / District or County Councillor.

Results are shown in the bar chart to the right.

The responses to ‘Other’ included residents of Cellar Hill,

Sheppey and Lynsted as well as a spokesperson for

East Kent cycling.

Respondents by Group





4.3 Respondent Locations

4.3.1 Q2. Please tell us the first five characters of your postcode

Based on the postcodes given the responses to the questionnaire were mapped to show where the respondents live. These

results show us that the vast majority of the people who took part in the consultation live in and around London Road, Teynham.

Respondents locations plot map





5 Consultation Results

5.1 Q4. To what extent do you agree or

disagree with the A2 London Road,

Teynham carriageway realignment

scheme?

There were 59 responses to this question:

• 52% (32) of respondents strongly or tend to agree

• 42% (25) of respondents strongly or tend to disagree

• 3% (2) of respondents did not agree or disagree with

the scheme.

Results are shown in a pie chart to the right.

Respondents feeling on scheme

17

8

2

19

13

Q4. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the proposed London Road carriageway re-

alignment scheme?

Strongly disagree

Tend to disagree

Neither agree nor disagree

Tend to agree

Strongly agree





5.2 Q4a. Please tell us the reason for your answer

There were 56 responses to this question. These responses were grouped into themes.

• 30% (17) of respondents in favour of scheme for pedestrians, environment and slowing traffic down

• 27% (15) in favour of a speed camera as a better solution to monitor speeds of traffic

• 25% (14) believe the scheme does not provide enough parking provision and pedestrian crossing needs to be upgraded.

Results are shown in the bar chart below.

17

11

2

14

14

2

9

15

3

2

1

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Good for pedestrians /environment / slow traffic down entering the village

Proposals are okay but some effort is needed at other locations outside the…

Parking needs to be controlled and reduced in this area

Insufficient parking provision

Pedestrian crossing needs to have an island / zebra crossing / or not located…

Cyclists not considered in proposals

Provide a traffic calming feature at Nouds Lane to reduce create a 40mph…

Speed camera is required / better solution

Cars should not be allowed to park on the footway

Introduce more green planting as part of scheme

Change speed limit on London Road to 20mph

Q4a. Please tell us the reason for your answer?

Total





A sample of the comments received are shown below.

“I would agree strongly, but I think it's a pity

that the 40-mph speed limit buffer has not

been included in the proposal. Although

traffic is slowed by the hill, most drivers

approach from the East far too quickly.”

“I accept that narrowing the

road should make it quicker to

cross the road on foot, but the

crossing is just below a blind

hill-top.”

“The current parking on the

pavement is a problem. With a

road reduction it is hopefully

less likely that further damage

to the monument will occur.”

“I think this is a good idea but

should be extended to both the

other end of Teynham and

onto the lower road too.”

“Because I think it will

make the road safer by

slowing down traffic

entering the village.”

“Scheme intended to improve pedestrian

crossing but provides no additional facilities.

Pedestrians can already cross informally

anywhere along the road. Parked cars will

make crossing harder by reducing visibility. A

zebra crossing is needed.”





5.3 Q5. We have completed an initial Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) for the proposals put forward

in this consultation.

There were 22 responses to this question.

• 59% (13) responded that the scheme does not impact / is not applicable.

• 9% (2) responded that the scheme will be beneficial to protected groups.

• 32% (7) responded that the proposals will not be beneficial to protected groups.


13

2

7

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Does not impact / is notapplicable

Beneficial Will not be beneficial toprotected groups

Q5. Does the proposals impact protected groups?

Total

Impact to protected groups





A sample of the comments received are below.

“The idea of an "informal

crossing point" worries me

from the perspective of

disability and age. Reaction

time will be affected by poor

line of sight (wheelchair users

are lower than adults

standing). Children will face

less reaction time because

they share the lower line of

sight.”

“The proposed "informal pedestrian

crossing" looks to be dangerously close to

the blind spot caused by the hill. I regularly

cross this road on foot and either cross on

the brow of the hill when no traffic is

coming in either direction (very rare

occurrence) or the pedestrian lights.”

“I see no relevance at all to

whether a male or female, an

African, Asian or English

person or a Lesbian or

Transgender wants to park

their car, drive too fast or

cross the road in Teynham.

It's totally unnecessary to

ask. So will NOT be

answering that section.”

“I believe that as long as

access for disabled /

vulnerable users is

considered (as you have),

then this is a positive.”

“There needs to be some control on pavement parking to allow residents

using wheelchairs or mobility scooter to pass without having to use the

edge of the pavement close to fast moving traffic or even to be forced on to

the road.”





5.4 Q6. How did you find out about the consultation?

There were 59 responses to this question.

(Please note respondents were able to select multiple responses to this question).

• 32% (19) were alerted to this consultation via social media (Facebook or Twitter).

• 20% (12) were informed by direct mail and by visiting the consultation page at Kent.gov.

• 15% (9) were informed by other means including direct email or verbal communication with KCC officers.


12

6 6

19

12

8

1

9

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Direct mail to myhome

From my parishcouncil

From a friend orrelative

Social Media(Facebook or

Twitter)

Kent.gov.ukwebsite

Saw a poster From a localbusiness

Other

Q6. How did you find out about the consultation?

Access to consultation material





6 Next Steps

Following the feedback from this consultation, the design team will be carefully considering points raised to establish whether further design changes are appropriate. A ‘You Said, We Did’ document will be published at the same time as the preliminary design plan to show how feedback from the consultation has been incorporate into the final scheme. These will be published on the consultation webpage.

This consultation report will be presented, along with the preliminary design, at the next Swale Joint Transportation Board (JTB) which is due to be held on the 2nd March 2020 and a recommendation will be taken regarding how to proceed with the scheme. Construction is likely to start late summer 2020 and Start of Works Notice will be published to inform residents and members of the

public.

This report is available on our website kent.gov.uk/teynham and we will send a notification to those who have provided contact

details throughout the process, including stakeholder organisations.

EQIA comments

http://www.kent.gov.uk/a20harrietsham

Documents

Consultation Report · Kent County Council 1 Consultation Report November to 2 December 20195 Alternative ... KCC’s project team, are working together in close liaison with Swale