Frustration as A226 Galley Hill Road in Swanscombe remains shut two years on from cliff collapse

It is exactly two years since the chalk cliff at the A226 Galley Hill Road collapsed, closing it instantly and leaving a huge mess to clear up. Local Democracy Reporter Simon Finlay returns to the scene to find frustrated locals still counting the cost and their blessings...Aerial shot of the extent of the collapse of Galley Hill RoadEntering Manor Way Business Park in Swanscombe is rather like stumbling upon a dystopian scene from a novel by George Orwell or H G Wells.Seemingly abandoned, dust-covered cars parked on the roadside with smashed in windows. Fly-tipped rubbish, including the odd obligatory mattress, lies scattered up the verges.Its pitted, potholed roads are worn by relentless heavy vehicles trundling in and out. Even heavy duty speed humps are worn to nothing.All around industrial clatters and clanks are punctuated by frightening grinding sounds set against a bleak landscape of concrete open spaces and spiked metal fences.In the din, men shout to the accompaniment of the constant, monotonous white noise of lorries’ reversing.The area has been cordoned off during that timeYet the place is clearly functional. Things get done at this tucked-away location. But it’s doubtful many would have a good reason to know it even existed.Yet two years ago, the industrial estate was thrust into the public consciousness in a manner no one wanted or expected.On April 10, in the late afternoon of a bank holiday Monday, tonnes and tonnes of chalk sheared away from the cliff face into buildings owned by the demolition firm Lancebox Limited.A sizeable chunk of the A226, like a giant’s bite mark, went with it.One local said the cliff chalk, tens of millions of years in the making, “crumbled like cottage cheese in seconds”.Ronnie Pearce, the operations manager of the family-run Lancebox business, received a call to get up to the yard straight away “as something terrible had happened”.Ronnie Pearce in a destroyed outbuilding which took the full force of the chalk fall and road destructionWearing his sliders, he did his best to move vehicles and secure the scene as the emergency services threw an exclusion zone around the plant.In the frenzy of press attention, public inconvenience, local fury and social media theorising that followed, Lancebox Limited (established in 1986) somehow ended up cast as the villains with something to hide.In the years that followed, it became clear that a company that had operated at the same three acre site for 25 years actually had nothing to do with what happened 140 feet above them.The Pearces have lost equipment, materials and suffered irreparable damage to the buildings which now contain about four feet of sodden chalk and stone. The company has had to set up a temporary, makeshift workshop nearby and hire storage containers. Then there has been the cost of legal advice and expert surveys.Demo on April 5 2025 to mark the second anniversary of the Galley Hill Road collapse“It’s all costing money,” says Ronnie. “Everything about this has cost us money but I can’t honestly put a figure on it so far. At least the pitchforks are not out for us anymore.”The company has reflected often how the bank holiday effectively saved the life of one of its employees, mechanic Adam Burton.He could have been working in the same spot as the fall's impact on a normal working day. Now Adam’s personal set of tools lie somewhere under tonnes of debris.“He would have been under it,” says Ronnie, thoughtfully, "He really could - that's one good thing.“You know, we didn’t know that we even owned part of the cliff until Kent County Council (KCC) told us. It was news to us. The cliff is fairly stable now and there’s been nothing since the landslip.“If you look at the chalk, the colour where it fell is much darker than the other chalk. We’ve had some experts in to have a look at it and we reckon it was caused by water.”Dust-covered cars lie in Manor Way industrial parkThe blame game will start, however, if and when the government loan to pay for one of two possible options to fix the problem, comes through. The cash would allow work to start but also ignite litigation over who might be to blame and who will have to pay the costs back.Thames Water, whose pipes ran under the KCC-maintained road, has been approached for a comment.Senior KCC highways officer Toby Howe told a public meeting on March 21 that the business owners were not at fault.He also disclosed the options: of a bridge - not dissimilar to the one over the nearby HS1 - or an earth embankment which would fortify the chalk but require a chunk of the Pearces’ land to build out the base.If all the permissions and procedures were in place tomorrow, the project would take no less than three years to complete.No one knows the cost estimates in the hands of the government minister Lilian Greenwood but one KCC insider suggests “tens of millions of pounds” but would not rule out “hundreds of millions”, either.The Pearces would almost certainly have to relocate but much of their work requires special licences which are tied to the land they own.“It’s a complicated situation but, two years on, we still don’t know where we stand,” says Ronnie’s father Nick, Lancebox’s managing director. “It’s a right mess but it seems that KCC are grabbing the bull by the horns.”He is not hopeful of a quick resolution.Ronnie Pearce stands in from of the tonnes of chalk where his company's workshop once stoodOn April 5, a small collection of locals marked the “unhappy” second birthday of the Galley Hill Road collapse with a demonstration outside the spiked metal gates which prevents public access.A few days earlier it was eerily peaceful in the spring sunshine as a mangy dog fox sniffed around the crumbled edge.Through the bars of the fence, it looks a total mess; and not a little terrifying.The modest turnout for the protest, despite the presence of local MP Jim Dickson, possibly reflects residents' feelings of resignation.The words "3 YEARS WAIT IS TOO LONG" on a placard possibly summed it up better than most.The stakes for Mr Dickson are high.Politically, the onus is now on the government to make sure that the funds can be made available.The Mr Dickson is acutely aware of the public dissatisfaction with the impact the closure of Galley Hill Road is having on his constituents.Even if permission and funds were given tomorrow, most believe that time frame is possibly on the conservative side.And those constituents, particularly those in Stanhope Road, who have endured traffic problems daily for two years have little patience for another three.It is entirely possible that the Galley Hill Road farrago will still not be fully resolved by the next general election, leaving his already wafer-thin 1,192 majority is 2024 precarious, to say the least.Jim Dickson MP at the site of the collapseKCC’s consultants Arcadis produced an “options paper” which forms the basis of the submission to government.This outlines the two best choices to repair the damage and tries to highlight the adverse effects of the Galley Hill Road closure - not least the impacts on businesses and communities, the disruption to the Fastrack bus services and the barriers to economic growth, especially to housing.It argues development had been granted planning permission predicated on transport modelling with that section of the A226 being open and available to traffic.In the Ellenor charity shop in the High Street, manager Suemarie Atkinson, who lives locally, cannot say for sure if trade is down in the shop as most people are local and drop in on foot. Donations still come in regularly.The traffic implication for local streets has been awful since the collapse.Curiously she mentions something no one else has - her fears for the railway side of Galley Hill Road.Sighing as she accepted another bin liner of clothes, she reflects: “When that road was built, it wasn't built for the volume of traffic is now has to take."I am amazed that the Swanscombe railway bridge hasn't collapsed as well. That would be really serious."Whatever they end up doing, the fact still remains that the road is built on chalk and when it gets wet it disintegrates and it will disintegrate much more quickly than if it was stone."Up the road at MBC Despatch, a motorcycle workshop and accessories business, Mick Cheel has watched his business dwindle away, now that passing bikers rarely make the trip past his premises.Mick Cheel in front of his motorcycle business MBC DespatchThe shelves are well-stocked with around £100,000 worth of goods that he would love to sell but can’t. He has received help with his business rates, but that does not put cash in his till.Mick, who spent 35 years working as a courier for Hello! magazine in London, opened the business in 2018 and was settling in when Covid-19 hit.“Then, no one had any money...and now this. In an average week, I might get ten people in, if I’m lucky. I have earned nothing today...zero.”Did he attend the public meeting?“Nah,” he says. “Waste of time. They’re never going to fix it, are they? I can’t see anyone taking responsibility for it.“I feel like I am just banging my head against a brick wall."

It is exactly two years since the chalk cliff at the A226 Galley Hill Road collapsed, closing it instantly and leaving a huge mess to clear up. Local Democracy Reporter Simon Finlay returns to the scene to find frustrated locals still counting the cost and their blessings..

. Entering Manor Way Business Park in Swanscombe is rather like stumbling upon a dystopian scene from a novel by George Orwell or H G Wells. Seemingly abandoned, dust-covered cars parked on the roadside with smashed in windows.

Fly-tipped rubbish, including the odd obligatory mattress, lies scattered up the verges. Its pitted, potholed roads are worn by relentless heavy vehicles trundling in and out. Even heavy duty speed humps are worn to nothing.

All around industrial clatters and clanks are punctuated by frightening grinding sounds set against a bleak landscape of concrete open spaces and spiked metal fences. In the din, men shout to the accompaniment of the constant, monotonous white noise of lorries’ reversing. Yet the place is clearly functional.

Things get done at this tucked-away location. But it’s doubtful many would have a good reason to know it even existed. Yet two years ago, the industrial estate was thrust into the public consciousness in a manner no one wanted or expected.

On April 10, in the late afternoon of a bank holiday Monday, tonnes and tonnes of chalk sheared away from the cliff face into buildings owned by the demolition firm Lancebox Limited. A sizeable chunk of the A226, like a giant’s bite mark, went with it. One local said the cliff chalk, tens of millions of years in the making, “crumbled like cottage cheese in seconds”.

Ronnie Pearce, the operations manager of the family-run Lancebox business, received a call to get up to the yard straight away “as something terrible had happened”. Wearing his sliders, he did his best to move vehicles and secure the scene as the emergency services threw an exclusion zone around the plant. In the frenzy of press attention, public inconvenience, local fury and social media theorising that followed, Lancebox Limited (established in 1986) somehow ended up cast as the villains with something to hide.

In the years that followed, it became clear that a company that had operated at the same three acre site for 25 years actually had nothing to do with what happened 140 feet above them. The Pearces have lost equipment, materials and suffered irreparable damage to the buildings which now contain about four feet of sodden chalk and stone. The company has had to set up a temporary, makeshift workshop nearby and hire storage containers.

Then there has been the cost of legal advice and expert surveys. “It’s all costing money,” says Ronnie. “Everything about this has cost us money but I can’t honestly put a figure on it so far.

At least the pitchforks are not out for us anymore.” The company has reflected often how the bank holiday effectively saved the life of one of its employees, mechanic Adam Burton. He could have been working in the same spot as the fall's impact on a normal working day.

Now Adam’s personal set of tools lie somewhere under tonnes of debris. “He would have been under it,” says Ronnie, thoughtfully, "He really could - that's one good thing. “You know, we didn’t know that we even owned part of the cliff until Kent County Council (KCC) told us.

It was news to us. The cliff is fairly stable now and there’s been nothing since the landslip. “If you look at the chalk, the colour where it fell is much darker than the other chalk.

We’ve had some experts in to have a look at it and we reckon it was caused by water.” The blame game will start, however, if and when the government loan to pay for one of two possible options to fix the problem, comes through. The cash would allow work to start but also ignite litigation over who might be to blame and who will have to pay the costs back.

Thames Water, whose pipes ran under the KCC-maintained road, has been approached for a comment. Senior KCC highways officer Toby Howe told a public meeting on March 21 that the business owners were not at fault. He also disclosed the options: of a bridge - not dissimilar to the one over the nearby HS1 - or an earth embankment which would fortify the chalk but require a chunk of the Pearces’ land to build out the base.

If all the permissions and procedures were in place tomorrow, the project would take no less than three years to complete. No one knows the cost estimates in the hands of the government minister Lilian Greenwood but one KCC insider suggests “tens of millions of pounds” but would not rule out “hundreds of millions”, either. The Pearces would almost certainly have to relocate but much of their work requires special licences which are tied to the land they own.

“It’s a complicated situation but, two years on, we still don’t know where we stand,” says Ronnie’s father Nick, Lancebox’s managing director. “It’s a right mess but it seems that KCC are grabbing the bull by the horns.” He is not hopeful of a quick resolution.

On April 5, a small collection of locals marked the “unhappy” second birthday of the Galley Hill Road collapse with a demonstration outside the spiked metal gates which prevents public access. A few days earlier it was eerily peaceful in the spring sunshine as a mangy dog fox sniffed around the crumbled edge. Through the bars of the fence, it looks a total mess; and not a little terrifying.

The modest turnout for the protest, despite the presence of local MP Jim Dickson, possibly reflects residents' feelings of resignation. The words "3 YEARS WAIT IS TOO LONG" on a placard possibly summed it up better than most. The stakes for Mr Dickson are high.

Politically, the onus is now on the government to make sure that the funds can be made available. The Mr Dickson is acutely aware of the public dissatisfaction with the impact the closure of Galley Hill Road is having on his constituents. Even if permission and funds were given tomorrow, most believe that time frame is possibly on the conservative side.

And those constituents, particularly those in Stanhope Road, who have endured traffic problems daily for two years have little patience for another three. It is entirely possible that the Galley Hill Road farrago will still not be fully resolved by the next general election, leaving his already wafer-thin 1,192 majority is 2024 precarious, to say the least. KCC’s consultants Arcadis produced an “options paper” which forms the basis of the submission to government.

This outlines the two best choices to repair the damage and tries to highlight the adverse effects of the Galley Hill Road closure - not least the impacts on businesses and communities, the disruption to the Fastrack bus services and the barriers to economic growth, especially to housing. It argues development had been granted planning permission predicated on transport modelling with that section of the A226 being open and available to traffic. In the Ellenor charity shop in the High Street, manager Suemarie Atkinson, who lives locally, cannot say for sure if trade is down in the shop as most people are local and drop in on foot.

Donations still come in regularly. The traffic implication for local streets has been awful since the collapse. Curiously she mentions something no one else has - her fears for the railway side of Galley Hill Road.

Sighing as she accepted another bin liner of clothes, she reflects: “When that road was built, it wasn't built for the volume of traffic is now has to take. "I am amazed that the Swanscombe railway bridge hasn't collapsed as well. That would be really serious.

"Whatever they end up doing, the fact still remains that the road is built on chalk and when it gets wet it disintegrates and it will disintegrate much more quickly than if it was stone." Up the road at MBC Despatch, a motorcycle workshop and accessories business, Mick Cheel has watched his business dwindle away, now that passing bikers rarely make the trip past his premises. The shelves are well-stocked with around £100,000 worth of goods that he would love to sell but can’t.

He has received help with his business rates, but that does not put cash in his till. Mick, who spent 35 years working as a courier for Hello! magazine in London, opened the business in 2018 and was settling in when Covid-19 hit. “Then, no one had any money.

..and now this.

In an average week, I might get ten people in, if I’m lucky. I have earned nothing today..

.zero.” Did he attend the public meeting? “Nah,” he says.

“Waste of time. They’re never going to fix it, are they? I can’t see anyone taking responsibility for it. “I feel like I am just banging my head against a brick wall.

".