HC Deb 07 June 1939 vol 348 cc422-3W
Sir W. Smithers

asked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been called to the widening of Gore Road, Darenth, Kent, entrance of A.2 road Dart-ford; whether he is aware that the local authority prepared a scheme costing £ 1,000 and that his Department asked for a scheme to cost £ 9,000 and only offered a grant on condition that the more expensive scheme was carried out; and why he was not guided by the advice of the local authority?

Captain Wallace

I have no knowledge of a scheme to cost £ 1,000, in connection with the widening of Gore Road, Darenth. In 1935 a proposal for providing a width of 32 feet at a cost of £ 5,285 was submitted to my Department. On examination, it was found that the presence of a large asylum and training colony, as well as the volume of through traffic on the existing road, required a widening to 40 feet and the provision of two continuous footpaths. A revised scheme to cost £ 9,686 was submitted and approved for grant in 1937. I understand that the work has not yet been carried out.