Kent's level crossings are testing the limits of common sense
Plus a far-right rally in Herne Bay, Miller Heights residents still displaced, Tonbridge’s new leisure centre and Kent’s newly named gritters
A level crossing near Deal has been closed after a string of near misses, misuse and free-roaming dogs pushed railway officials to the limit. Plus the far right in Herne Bay, Miller Heights residents still unable to return home, Tonbridge’s new leisure centre and the county’s newly named gritting fleet.
Catch Up
Last week’s stories were full of places trying to decide what they are for. Stratford International could finally become international before Ashford and Ebbsfleet International become international again, despite the Kent stations having spent years doing the job already. Our story also explored Lydd Airport’s proposed future as a centre for flying robots and the giant inflatable monster taking over Maidstone.
Ed Jennings
Maidstone’s public-sector buildings face more conventional changes. Land around Kent Police headquarters could accommodate up to 560 homes, while KCC’s Invicta House may become 94 mostly one-bedroom flats. We examined how two sites built to serve the county could end up housing it, including the council’s expensive change of mind over which building it actually wanted to keep.
Ed Jennings
Sandwich, meanwhile, has gained something its owner believed the town was missing. Abigail Worthington opened Spellbound last year, bringing an independent bookshop back to the town for the first time since 2011. She spoke to Steven about taking out a loan to make it happen, encouraging children to read and why a bookshop can be more than somewhere that sells books.
Steven Keevil
Kent's level crossings are testing the limits of common sense
A level crossing near Deal has been closed after railway officials concluded that the people using it could no longer be trusted to behave sensibly around trains. Incidents prompting the decision included a motorcyclist narrowly escaping an approaching train, a car forcing another train to make an emergency stop, and a remarkable number of dogs apparently roaming freely across the tracks.
Coldblow level crossing, near Walmer, was temporarily closed yesterday after Southeastern decided that letting people continue using it posed an unacceptable safety risk. The crossing is used by around 25 vehicles each day, with approximately 60 trains passing through.
During a nine-day observation period, railway officials recorded 39 instances of motorcycles or electric scooters using pedestrian gates to cross the tracks. There were also 138 occasions when dog walkers allowed their animals off their leads, despite the obvious disadvantages of allowing an animal with limited knowledge of railway timetables to wander around an operational railway line.
A separate near miss involved a car and a bicycle, while one motorcyclist was observed moving out of the path of an approaching train at the last moment. More recently, a train driver had to apply the emergency brakes to avoid hitting a car.
Coldblow is a manually operated crossing, where motorists must open the gates themselves, check that the warning light is green, cross the railway and then close the gates behind them. It is a relatively straightforward process, provided everyone involved accepts that trains generally have priority over whatever else might be happening.
Unfortunately, the arrangement appears to have become unsustainable.
A diversion is now in place while railway safety specialists consider what changes might allow the crossing to reopen. Vincent van der Hoeven, Southeastern's head of route quality, health, safety and environment, said the closure had not been taken lightly, but that the railway could not ignore the risks.
It might be tempting to dismiss Coldblow as an unusually concentrated outbreak of questionable judgement, but Kent has a wider problem with people taking chances at level crossings.
In July 2024, Network Rail revealed that 258 incidents of level crossing misuse had been recorded across its Kent route during 2023/24, alongside 33 near misses involving trains.
East Farleigh, near Maidstone, was the most troublesome location, accounting for 51 recorded incidents. Bax, between Sittingbourne and Faversham, recorded another 11, while Shornemead near Gravesend, Whitehall in Canterbury and Gillingham also featured among the hotspots. None of these places has quite the same excuse as Coldblow's particularly adventurous dog walkers.
The consequences of getting things wrong can be considerably worse than a delayed train or an inconvenient diversion. In September 2024, a train collided with a car at Grove Ferry level crossing, although nobody was injured. At Bax in July last year, a passenger train struck a delivery van, killing its driver.
Like Coldblow, Bax is a manually operated crossing, where motorists open the gates themselves and rely on warning lights to indicate when it is safe to cross. The fatal collision prompted an investigation by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, examining both the circumstances of the crash and Network Rail's wider management of crossings of this type. It has not yet published its findings.
An awkward question lies beneath all of this. Britain's railway network contains numerous crossings that rely on motorists and pedestrians to follow instructions rather than being physically prevented from entering the tracks. On quieter rural roads, installing full automatic barriers everywhere would be expensive, while closing crossings permanently can leave communities facing lengthy diversions.
The railway therefore has to balance the freedom to cross its tracks with the possibility that someone will do something spectacularly ill-advised while attempting it. Education campaigns, warning signs and enforcement can help, but they cannot eliminate every risk.
At Coldblow, Southeastern is working with British Transport Police and planning further school visits while safety specialists consider what additional measures might be necessary. No reopening date has been announced.
For people who use the crossing responsibly, the closure means an inconvenient diversion because of the actions of others. For Southeastern, it means deciding whether a crossing that has operated for years on the assumption that people will follow a few basic rules can safely continue to do so.
Given the catalogue of incidents at Coldblow, and the much more serious consequences seen elsewhere in Kent, it is becoming a difficult assumption to make.
In brief
🪧 The far-right Kent Nationalist Movement held a rally in Herne Bay over the weekend, where they platformed neo-Nazis and campaigned behind a giant White Lives Matter banner. A substantial counterprotest met them.
🚗 Canterbury City Council has a long-term plan to pedestrianise part of Whitstable High Street.
🚫 Residents evacuated from Miller Heights in Maidstone back in May will not be able to return to their properties this year.
🗳️ Proposals for an Ashford Town Council have been put on hold following the recent pause in the local government reorganisation process.
🏗️ Tonbridge's new £20m leisure centre has been given the green light by councillors.
🚋 The restoration of the Leas Lift in Folkestone has reached another milestone.
🏃➡️ Cyclopark parkrun in Gravesend has had to cancel its event after Kent County Council installed bollards and concrete blocks on the course without warning.
🚄 An argument for reopening Ashford International for cross-border travel over Stratford International.
🚚 Kent has unveiled the names of its 62-strong fleet of gritting lorries. Some are pretty awful, but we're big fans of See It, Say It, Salt It.
Council matters
Meetings this week
- Maidstone: Democracy and General Purposes Committee will meet tonight (Monday) to talk about taking part in an early voting pilot, DBS checks for councillors, and more.
- Swale: Planning Committee will hold an extraordinary meeting tonight to discuss 85 new homes south of the A2 in Faversham.
- Dartford: Cabinet meets on Thursday to discuss net zero, town centre regeneration, the future of Acacia Sports Hall, and more.
New planning applications
- Dover: Outline plan for 96 homes in Ash.
Property of the week
This apartment at Emmetts House near Ide Hill offers the rather wonderful prospect of living in the grounds of a National Trust garden. For £800,000, you get part of a Victorian country mansion dating back to the 1860s, surrounded by the woodland, gardens and spectacular countryside views that make Emmetts Garden such a popular place to visit. The house was divided into five apartments in the 1980s, with this one occupying more than 3,000 sq ft across the ground floor and basement. It has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, grand reception rooms, marble fireplaces, and a private courtyard, and the communal grounds even include a croquet lawn, should you ever feel the need to take up a particularly genteel hobby. It's not often you get the chance to live somewhere that other people put on their weekend sightseeing itinerary.
Events
🎤 Fri 30 Oct - Bridget Christie and Guests // Creator and star of Channel 4’s The Change performs an extended headline set, joined by two rising comedians. Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells. Tickets £29.
📚 30 Oct - 28 Nov - Medway River Lit // Medway’s annual literary festival returns with authors, poets, workshops, open mics and new writing across the area. Various venues. Pay what you can.
🎸 Sat 31 Oct - Grace Petrie // One of the UK's most urgent songwriters. Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury. Tickets £22.25.
Footnotes
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