Nearly two years after a major landslip closed a busy road in north Kent, the government has been called on to discuss how to fund repairs.

The A226 requires major works at Galley Hill Road where the highway collapsed in April 2023.

The leader of Kent County Council (KCC), Cllr Roger Gough, has written to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner for a meeting to renew talks about “funding to continue to progress the required remedial works to tender and construction”.

It comes ahead of a public meeting tomorrow evening (March 21) where frustrated locals will hope to hear for a positive update.

Since the landslip, aside from daily disruption, lorries ignoring diversion signs have ended up in tiny residential side streets causing disturbance and damage to property and cars.

In one shocking incident, a “lost” HGV reversed into a fence after managing to get stuck in a park next to a children's play area.

County councillor Thomas Mallon, who represents the area for Reform UK and will attend the meeting, said that work is going on behind the scenes and he is part of a monthly meeting with KCC officials to glean clear, up-to-date information.

Cllr Mallon said: “We are now at the planning stage and when those plans are accepted, we'll send them out to tender to get an idea of price.

“We then need to go to the government to see how much of the bill they are prepared to foot, because KCC cannot afford it. This closure is already having other effects further afield such as holding up development in Ebbsfleet.

“It is important that we get this fixed, not just for the businesses but all the residents have been affected by this.”

Cllr Mallon said care must be taken at the planning stage to be aware that potential weaknesses elsewhere in the road could lead to another landslide.

The A226 closure has already meant headaches for residents in the Dartford and Gravesham areas.

The issue of remedying the damage has been complicated by several potential interests in the area such as KCC, Thames Water and landowners.

The meeting will feature a panel consisting of Dartford MP Jim Dickson, KCC representative Toby Howe, KCC councillor Thomas Mallon and a neighbourhood police officer.

It will be chaired by Swanscombe and Greenhithe Residents’ Association’s (SGRA) Dawn Johnston.

The area has been fenced off with CCTV and diversions set in place within mixed results.

Geotechnical expert advice has been sought and engineering consultants Arcadis drafted in to explore the stability of the geology, which is principally chalk, and to draw up preliminary designs and costs estimates for the work.

KCC has engaged a legal team to “ensure due process and manage potential litigation”, including recovery of costs incurred to date.

A council statement said: “We have kept [the] government briefed on the situation and accompanied successive ministers, including Lilian Greenwood, on visits to the site to witness the scale of the problem.

“[KCC leader] Roger Gough has written to Angela Rayner, Heidi Alexander and Darren Jones [government ministers] and is seeking a meeting to discuss funding to continue to progress the required remedial works to tender and construction.

“The letter stresses the strategic importance of the road to the highways network and delivery of housing developments in Dartford.”

The SGRA said recently a “major stumbling block” to work starting was getting agreement from the various adjacent landowners involved.

“Whilst not defending the slow action of KCC the key to understanding the difficulties they were experiencing in starting stabilisation work and eventual repairs is a presumption in land ownership law called ‘ad medium filum’,” a spokesperson said.

“This presumes that unless there is Land Registry evidence to the contrary the landowner who has the freehold of land bordering a public highway owns the subsoil underneath the highway up to the middle line of the highway.

“For historic highways such as the A226 this is nearly always the situation.”

Previous calls for the government to “step in” and pledge funds towards the repair job were also refused pending a discussion by the parties involved as to what “good repair looks like”.

The meeting is being held at the Heritage Community Hall in Craylands Lane, Swancombe, starting at 7pm.