Using the KCC Fault Reporting Tool

With over 4300 miles of public rights of way in Kent, it is not surprising that we find a lot of problems on them -- more than 6000 a year in fact. It is not surprising either that they don't all get fixed immediately, but you should not let that discourage you from reporting any faults you find. In order to manage the public rights of way network effectively, Kent County Council's public rights of way team need a comprehensive picture of its condition. And the one certainty is that if KCC don't know about a fault they won't fix it.

It is possible to report faults by telephone, by email or even by letter. However, by far the best way to make a report is using KCC's online reporting tool. This saves staff time that can be better used getting faults fixed and allows you to receive progress reports when action is taken. We therefore strongly urge you to use this tool which can be found here: www.kent.gov.uk/prowfaults

The reporting tool isn't especially user-friendly and at times can be excruciatingly slow, so here is some guidance on how to get the best out of it.

First, you have to create an account by registering your name, email address and a password. This is a bit of a pain but you only have to do it once and you can choose to have your computer remember you so that you don't even have to log in after the first time -- assuming you always use the same computer or phone.

Next you need to choose Report a Fault from the six available options (there are only three options until you log in). Now you need to zoom into the location of the fault on the map. You can use the + and - buttons at the left of the map, use the slider underneath the buttons or you can roll the wheel on your mouse. What you see will depend on the level of zoom and you need to be in one of the two highest levels of zoom to see everything, especially the yellow triangles indicating reported faults.

You can pan around the map by clicking on the map with your left mouse button and dragging while the button is still depressed. Sometimes the various symbols are very slow to refresh, so be prepared to be patient.

The yellow triangles are faults already reported so you can check whether someone else has already reported the same fault. Make sure the "i" button at the top right of the map is highlighted by clicking on it if necessary then click on a yellow triangle to bring up details of one or more faults. This can be quite slow. If your fault is there you can click on the blue link and add a comment. If you want to receive progress reports, be sure to check the box provided.

If your fault is not there, click on the finger button at the top right of the map to highlight it then click anywhere on the relevant path to highlight that in mauve. Now click on the yellow triangle button at the top right of the map to highlight it. The mouse pointer will turn into a blue spot that you can use to click the exact point on the highlighted path where the fault is. This will bring up the Fault Location dialogue and you can either click the red cross to cancel or the "Fault Details" button to continue.

When the "Fault details" dialogue comes up it is wise to check the box for receiving status updates immediately as otherwise it is easy to forget until it is too late. Next choose a category of fault from the drop down list. Most of them are fairly clear but I wish you luck in choosing between "Crops/Not Delineated (s.134)" and "Crops/Not Reinstated (s.137)". I expect that near enough is good enough.

You should then type in any relevant information about the fault and ideally attach a photograph or two. Photographs can be dragged into the box from Windows File Manager or you can click the Add Photos button and navigate to the photograph(s) on your device. Each photograph should be 3MB or less but there is no restriction on the total of several photographs.

Finally, click the "Submit" button and the job is done. You will get a confirmatory message and if you have chosen to receive progress reports you will get an emailed acknowledgement.

The map has other uses. You can get an accurate grid reference for any point, indicated at the bottom corner of the map. You can use the Layers menu to toggle on and off various categories of information such as parish boundaries and path furniture. You can enlarge the map to fill the screen by using the Enlarge button. The Map Legend button at the bottom left (not present in full screen mode) explains that green triangles indicate sections of path for which vegetation clearance contracts are in place.

In due course, and with luck, you will get progress reports. Unfortunately they don't tell you the path number that they relate to, making it quite difficult to manage all the responses unless you maintain a spreadsheet to map fault report reference numbers to path numbers.

If a reported problem is not dealt with in a reasonable time, say a year, you can report it to Kent Ramblers and our volunteers will consider whether to make representations to KCC. We will not do so in every case -- we recognise that the KCC public rights of way team is not resourced to fix every problem quickly, that prioritisation is necessary and that moving some issues up the queue means moving others down the queue.

The Good and the Bad...

Andrew Swarbrick recently sent me the following account of his experience with reporting a fault:

KCC Public Rights of Way Team work wonders!

I have recently been extremely impressed by what must be some sort of record: While recce'ing a walk which I will be leading this Sunday, I came across a footpath almost completely blocked by a large fallen tree. I discovered the obstruction on Wednesday and logged it on the KCC PRoW system when I got home that afternoon. Yesterday, I received an email updating me on the issue and saying the landowner had been contacted and would be dealing with the problem today. I am pleased to report that I re-visited the location this afternoon and confirmed that the path has been cleared -- less than 48 hours after I reported it! I won't therefore need to divert the walk on Sunday -- which would have added about 3/4 mile to the route. Well done KCC!

On the other hand, on the afternoon that I am writing this, the fault reporting tool is unusable because the base mapping on which the rights of way and other information are overlaid is completely missing. It is not the first time that I have encountered this problem.

Bexley, Bromley and Medway

Bexley and Bromley use Fix my Street for reports of faults on public rights of way: https://fix.bexley.gov.uk/ and https://fix.bromley.gov.uk/. These systems allow issues to be located on a map and previously reported issues to be seen.

Medway currently requires users to fill in a form and identify locations by street name or postcode which is difficult for problems on rural footpaths. It is not possible to see whether an issue has already been reported.

If you really cannot use the online reporting tool then you can telephone 03000 417171 or email prow@kent.gov.uk