Herne Bay Railway Station to Central Parade

The scheme includes:

• the closure of Central Parade between Station Road and Pier Avenue to create a pedestrian area free from traffic
• a 20mph speed limit for Heron Ward, north of the railway line.

Improvements

Station Road

• a new cycle and walking path on the east footway of Station Road. Cyclists and pedestrians will be separated using a double sided, semi-mountable kerb
• a new right turn only from Station Road to Central Parade
• changes to the waiting restrictions, including:
  • existing taxi parking bay to be removed
  • existing double yellow lines to be extended 89 metres (loss of 13 parking spaces)
  • new taxi parking bay to be installed in area outside the station car park.

Memorial Park

• an amendment to existing cycle prohibition to allow cycle access along the northern path
• a new cycle path using line markings and signs to identify the cycle route
• cycle access around entry gates maintained at all times.

Richmond Street

• convert to a one-way street its entire length with new cycle gates for access
• new cycle logo markings and signs to identify cycle priority
• a new one-way system from High Street to King’s Road
• new right-turn bans to Richmond Street from King’s Road, Hanover Street and Telford Street
• new left-turn bans to Richmond Street from King’s Road, Brunswick Square and Mortimer Street.
• (a new one-way system from High Street to Central Parade) we are reintroducing two-way traffic on Richmond Street, north of the High Street to Central Parade to maintain tanker access to the garage. This will require a change to the Traffic Regulation Order.

Central Parade

• new pedestrianisation of the section between Station Road and Pier Avenue
• cycle access maintained using line markings and signs
• install one-way systems and a physical measure to block Central Parade to vehicles between Pier Avenue and Station Road to reduce the volume of traffic using roads on the proposed route to improve walking and cycling
• a new one-way system between Lane End and Pier Avenue
• a new road closure between Pier Avenue and Station Road.

Dolphin Street

• a new one-way system
• a new right turn ban from Telford Street.

St Georges Terrace

• a new one-way system between Station Road and Pier Avenue
• a new one-way system between Pier Avenue and Oxenden Street.

Pier Avenue

• a new one-way system between Central Parade and Avenue Road.

Scheme documents

Scheme plans

• Central Parade between St George's Terrace  Richmond Street (PDF, 1.3 MB)
• Central Parade pier (PDF, 820.2 KB)
• Central Parade to Lane End (PDF, 606.2 KB)
• Herne Bay Station to Central Parade (PDF, 5.4 MB)
• High Street from Pier Avenue to Dolphin Street (PDF, 570.5 KB)
• Memorial Park: Avenue of Remembrance and Richmond Street (PDF, 1.1 MB)
• Proposed 20mph limits in Herne Bay (PDF, 4.3 MB)
• Richmond Street (PDF, 1.2 MB)
• Station Road to Spenser Road (PDF, 1.5 MB)
• War memorial (PDF, 730.9 KB)

Start of works notices

• Herne Bay Start of Works Notice (November 2023)
• Start of works notice map of letter drop (PDF, 310.9 KB)

Traffic Regulation Orders

There are 2 traffic regulation orders (TROs) as part of this scheme to:

• amend the existing double yellow lines on Station Road
• introduce a mixture of right and left turn bans, one-way roads and prohibition of vehicles (except cycles) on:
  • Central Parade
  • Dolphin Street
  • Mortimer Street
  • Pier Avenue
  • Richmond Street
  • Station Road
  • St Georges Terrace
  • Telford Street.

The orders are being made in order to:

• prevent danger to people or other traffic using the road
• preserve or improve the amenities of the area which the road runs through
• ensure the road or any other road is passable by any class of traffic (including pedestrians).

The Active Travel Fund helps councils to improve walking and cycling facilities.

We submitted a bid and secured funding for a scheme. The scheme will create a cycle route from the station to the sea front. This includes closing a short length of Central Parade to all motor traffic. The closure will create a seafront plaza and event space.

The active travel scheme is part of a wider plan to provide cycle routes in Herne Bay. The routes will link developments south of the Thanet Way to the station, town centre, and seafront.

We worked with Canterbury City Council to put a bid together. We secured full funding for the scheme from Active Travel England (ATE).

We successfully secured £100,000 for the Central Parade section of the scheme. We're using other active travel funding for the railway station to Central Parade. This includes an extended 20mph zone.

The funding cannot be used for any other works.

We can decide whether to amend or remove any elements of the scheme by monitoring and evaluating it. We may have to pay back the costs of the scheme to the DfT if we remove it in any way.

The overall Active Travel Fund allocated to this scheme is £600,000.

As part of funding conditions set by Active Travel England (ATE), we must:

• complete
• monitor
• evaluate the scheme

The scheme will not be complete until the end of February 2024. By this time, our highways team will walk the complete length and find any issues that need fixing. We have already seen some issues, and we will pick these up again at a final walk through.

To monitor the scheme, sensors are in place to check the traffic flow of:

• vehicles
• pedestrians
• cyclists.

We will carry out interviews with route users, and send out an online survey.

We will continue to monitor and evaluate for up to three years after the scheme is in place. Our cabinet member for Highways and Transport will receive any findings.

All highway schemes are subject to Road Safety Audits. These look at potential risks and how various elements of the scheme work in practice. Qualified and independent road safety experts carry out the audit. Our scheme designers must respond to any findings.

This project underwent a full consultation process before construction started. Find out more about the Herne Bay: Railway Station to Central Parade consultation.

Formal consultation

A formal consultation took place between 9 September to 6 October 2022. We wanted to hear from you. To do this we promoted through:

• social media platforms
• public notices on streetlights
• 6,593 postcards sent to local residents and businesses (PDF, 313.9 KB)
• emails to those who registered an interest in consultations in Canterbury, including stakeholders (PDF, 113.7 KB).

We also held two drop-in sessions at Herne Bay Baptist Church on 27 and 29 September 2022.

On 1 November 2022, we presented the consultation findings to the Canterbury Joint Transport Board. Where a recommendation was given to make some changes.

Working groups

We are always reviewing your feedback. We want to understand any issues you have with the scheme, and we want to hear your voice. So, we have created a working group.

Who is part of the working group

The working group will include community members from local:

• businesses
• residents
• disability users or representative
• residents with young children and who may also walk and cycle often.

The group will also include elected members and highway officers, including:

• Dan Watkins KCC Conservative Member
• Cllr Tom Mellish or Cllr Chris Cornell (Labour CCC councillor)
• Highways officer, Nikola Floodgate (KCC)
• Highways officer, Jamie Watson (KCC)
• Highways officer, Ruth Goudie (CCC).

Read the terms of reference for the working group (PDF, 135.5 KB).

Community meetings

The working group will use public meetings and petitions. They will listen to your concerns about the scheme's:

• new pedestrian and cycleway from the railway station to the park
• improvements to cycling signage and infrastructure through the park, along Richmond Street, to the pier
• partial road closure on Central Parade and the one-way traffic restrictions on Pier Avenue, St Georges Terrace, Dolphin Street and Telford Street
• introduction of a 20mph speed limit around the town.

. The meetings are a great opportunity to share:

• the purpose and objectives of the scheme
• designs of the scheme
• monitoring and evaluation plans.

Meeting dates and notes

Share your feedback

To contact us or for further information about this scheme email activetravel@kent.gov.uk.

Decisions based on your feedback

Central Parade

The working group recommended changing Central Parade back to a two-way road. As well as returning all parking and loading within the closure location. This was known as option 1.

Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO)

We consulted on the following Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) from 3 to 27 May 2024:

Central Parade, Mortimer Street, Richmond Street, Station Road and Telford Street in Herne Bay
Amendment 2: Prohibition of Traffic Movements proposed to remove the recently closed off section of road in Central Parade between Pier Avenue and Station Road. As well as any other movement related Traffic Orders in:

• Mortimer Street
• Richmond Street
• Station Road
• Telford Street.

We received 251 comments, with 206 in support and 45 objections. We may reclassify some of the objections as comments only.

Central Parade in Herne Bay
Amendment 5: bring back parking within the above section of road by removing waiting restrictions. We received 66 comments. Of these, 55 were in support and 11 were objections. We may reclassify some objections as only comments.

It had previously been agreed that a recommendation from the Joint Transportation Board was not required prior to a decision by KCC's Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation, Neil Baker. As the feedback is mostly supportive of the proposals. We've decided to start the changes soon, in mid-June.

A full report on the consultation will be available soon.

Work will take place between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday.

Scheme timescale

Audit timescale

Last updated: 7 June 2024