Can we tame the traffic?

Sevenoaks is a victim of its own success. It is a beautiful town, with good shops and entertainment, great schools and a relatively quick and easy commute to London, by train or coach. It is because the long distance commute on public transport to London is so good that many of the problem arise. These include the lack of affordable housing and traffic jams.

If you live in or around Sevenoaks you will know the transport bottle-necks that exist. At certain times of the day, it is really difficult to get into or out of the town or to the station.

We have three main 'rush hours'; the early morning commuters to London driving to the railway stations, the parents driving children to school and the workers coming into Sevenoaks . Then there are return journeys at the end of the day.

Improvements to the London commute would be welcome, but better local public transport is essential. As more people come to live and work in Sevenoaks, the District becomes noisier, more polluted and more congested. Both the High Street and the A25 already have illegal levels of pollution. With the continued increase in local housing this will only get worse, unless things change.

If there are better and more integrated public transport links, with services running later, it may encourage some people out of their cars.
But it is not just public transport that needs improving, there also need to be improvements to make it easier for people to get around by bike or on foot. In residential areas near schools this could be as simple as reducing the speed limit to 20mph or adding a new zebra crossing as the Liberal Democrats have been proposing.

Edward Waite
Sevenoaks Town Councillor