There is a popular TV add for a well known brand of lager that involves a company digging up a road. Someone from another company sees what is going on and suggests that he should lay his cables in the hole at the same time to reduce inconvenience to the public.

This only happens with Heineken. Or, in the future, perhaps not. There is a new ‘legal’ Heineken about to hit Kent streets called the Traffic Management Act.

The Traffic management Act was passed in 2004 but is being implemented in stages. Stage 1 introduced Highways Agency Traffic Officers – the team of people who patrol the trunk roads and whose job it is to help clear away accidents and debris more quickly and try to get the traffic moving before a big jam builds up. They can’t work miracles, of course, and if people are hurt and the police, fire brigade or ambulance are needed there will always be a hold up, but they are often able to be very effective.

The second part of the Act gave highways authorities, that is Kent County Council for us, a duty to try and reduce congestion and keep traffic moving. They are able to do this by working with partners such as the utility companies and district councils and if they fail to do this duty then the Government can step in and do the job for them.

But it is part three of the Act that most excites me and which may just start to do for real what Heineken promised to do in the ad. Part three allows Councils to introduce a permit scheme so that utility companies will no longer be able to just dig up the road whenever they like.

At present if a water, gas, electricity or telephone company wants to dig up the road they only have to tell the Council when they want to do it and they can go ahead. It doesn’t matter if a different company dug it up a week earlier or if there is a big local event in the area that day, if they want to they can just go ahead and get on with the work.

With a permit scheme that will all change. In future they will have to apply for a permit, unless it’s an emergency of course, and the Council can tell them when it will be convenient for the local community to have the work done. They will even be able to hold up work until several companies are ready to do their work at the same time – the Heineken effect!

Kent have been consulting on these new powers and that consultation finishes today (Friday). They hope to put their plans for a permit scheme to the Government in November and have it up and running from this time next year.

I think people in Thanet, who have had to put up with one set of road works after another without any sign of co-ordination or planning, will wish them luck. This time next year we could all be witnessing our own, real life Heineken moment.