{"id":1390,"date":"2025-03-26T15:31:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T16:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/?p=1390"},"modified":"2025-03-27T11:27:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T11:27:56","slug":"only-road-through-uk-town-closed-for-six-months-because-of-repairs-to-mayors-1000000-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/26\/only-road-through-uk-town-closed-for-six-months-because-of-repairs-to-mayors-1000000-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Only road through UK town closed for six months because of repairs to mayor\u2019s \u00a31,000,000 house"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Repairs need to be done to the plasterwork on the Grade II-listed building (Picture: SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Locals in Britain\u2019s smallest town are fuming as the only route through the town centre will be closed for six months \u2013 so the mayor can repair his home.<\/p>\n

The road through Fordwich, outside of Canterbury, Kent, will close between April and September for \u2018essential\u2019 work on Mayor Barney Riggs\u2019 Grade II-listed property. <\/p>\n

6,000 drivers per day use the town\u2019s main road, but will soon be forced onto the already busy A28 Sturry Road. <\/p>\n

Mayor Riggs \u2013 who has owned the \u2018iconic\u2019 Manor House for seven years \u2013 said the repair work is unavoidable, citing crumbling lime and wattle plaster which is creating a \u2018significant public safety issue\u2019. <\/p>\n

A \u2018temporary fix\u2019 is currently in place, but restoration experts said they need to put up scaffolding to repair the building, which means the road will be shut to traffic.<\/p>\n

This shutdown will essentially see the town split in two \u2013 leaving residents facing detours of up to seven miles on already congested routes.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Residents\t<\/div>
Detours will force drivers to head to the centre of Canterbury (Picture: SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\t\t\"As\t<\/div>
The narrow roads in the Britain\u2019s smallest town will become even more crowded (Picture: SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Retired teachers Gerry and Chris Frisby, who live near the closure, said they were \u2018gobsmacked\u2019 when they learned about it.<\/p>\n

\u2018To be honest, we both saw red because it\u2019s going to cause us a real headache trying to get around. I know a lot of neighbours are absolutely fed up about it too,\u2019 they said. <\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s quite absurd. It\u2019s just going to be a nightmare to get in and out of the town. Things like going to Asda or the doctor\u2019s surgery in Sturry will involve a huge detour through the city centre.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mrs Frisby said she appreciates it\u2019s a heritage building, but a six-month road closure is \u2018unacceptable\u2019. <\/p>\n

Janet Hurst, who lives in the High Street, says the closure will cause considerable disruption to those attending a wake for her father \u2013 who died last week \u2013 as it is due to be held at the town\u2019s George and the Dragon pub.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Retired\t<\/div>
Residents Gerry and Chris Frisby said they were \u2018gobsmacked\u2019 (Picture: SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\t\t\"Daniel\t<\/div>
Daniel and Natasha Smith own the Fordwich Arms and said the closure is \u2018incredibly frustrating (Picture: SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Manor House was built in the mid-16th century and was once home to artist Alfred Palmer, who is recognised by a Blue Plaque on the property as the founder of the East Kent Arts Society.<\/p>\n

It was bought by Mr Riggs \u2013 a policy advisor for the government \u2013 in 2018 and is now reported to be worth upwards of \u00a31 million.<\/p>\n

Mr Riggs, who is also the chairman of\u00a0Fordwich\u00a0Town Council, has written to many of the town\u2019s 400 residents thanking them in advance of the work for their \u2018understanding and co-operation\u2019.<\/p>\n

He told KentOnline: \u2018We can\u2019t just let the house fall down around our ears so have been working with heritage buildings experts and Kent Highways for a long time to find the best solution.<\/p>\n

\u2018I know the closure will inconvenience residents, for which we apologise, but we have tried to find ways to minimise the impact.\u2019<\/p>\n

Metro <\/strong>contacted Mr Rigg for further information.<\/p>\n

Mr Riggs says the work is being carried out in two phases \u2013 with King Street closed first and then High Street \u2013 so access can be maintained at all times to homes in The Drove, School Lane and Yew Tree Gardens.<\/p>\n

It also means the Michelin-starred\u00a0Fordwich\u00a0Arms pub will not be shut off at any point, but some customers will face lengthy detours to reach the venue.<\/p>\n

Owner and chef Dan Smith says it will prove \u2018incredibly frustrating\u2019 for the business, but said he appreciates the issue Mr Riggs is dealing with.<\/p>\n

\u2018But the road closure is Kent County Council\u2019s decision. They haven\u2019t consulted with us about it and a six-month closure seems a bit unnecessary,\u2019 he said. <\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s going to involve quite a lot of extra work in letting our diners know that they should allow a lot of extra time for their journeys to get to us, depending on which direction they are coming from. It\u2019s just incredibly frustrating for everyone and other businesses in\u00a0Fordwich.\u2019<\/p>\n

Kent County Council said the closure could be in place until September 30, but Mr Riggs says he hopes with fair weather the work will be completed sooner.<\/p>\n

Metro <\/strong>has contacted local pubs The George and Dragon, the Frodwich Arms and local residents for comment.<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Repairs need to be done to the plasterwork on the Grade II-listed building (Picture: SWNS) Locals in Britain\u2019s smallest town are fuming as the only route through the town centre will be closed for six months \u2013 so the mayor can repair his home. The road through Fordwich, outside of Canterbury, Kent, will close between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1390"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1398,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1390\/revisions\/1398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}