Agenda and minutes

None.

RESOLVED: That all items be considered in public.

Councillors Janet Duncan, Dominic Gilham and Jan Sweeting attended the meeting and each spoke as Ward Councillors.

The petitioner could not attend the meeting but sent his concerns via e-mail.

The lead petitioner was heard by the Chairman previously in March 2015 about this issue, having been deferred from February at the lead petitioner's request. The lead petitioner did not attend the meeting in March, but local Ward Members were present.

The lead petitioner stated in his e-mail that 350 signatures had been submitted, as opposed to 199 and 7 letters of support what had also been submitted from local businesses, Swan Road Church, Swan Road Care Home, Councillors and the MP.

The lead petitioner continued that specific measures, other than pedestrian crossings were flexible about and believed that the road safety department could recommend appropriately and Councillors could arrange a consultation.

The lead petitioner reuested clarification on the statement that "the traffic report does not support a case for traffic calming on Swan Road". 

Ward Councillors made the following points in SUPPORT:

·         The issues affected the wider area of The Green, Church Road, Old Farm Road, Money Lane and Mill Road.

·         The area was a traffic hot spot with heavy vehicles that brought metal waste to the recycling facilities in donkey Lane and the Common.

·         There were more buses that used the route and there was increased traffic from residents in the new flats.

·         Swan Road was a bus route and there was heavy traffic that used this road giving rise to noise and vibration. The Council had installed vibration monitoring equipment.

·         The road was busy through the working day and the problems experienced varied according to the time of day. There was speeding in light traffic and standstill at some points of the working day.

·         Residents whose children attended St Catherine's School, Money Lane walked down Swan Road and some had observed incidents of near misses and damage to parked cars and accidents.

·         Ward Councillors were happy to work with local schools on travel plans.

·         There was inconsiderate and unsafe parking on the road by commuters, holiday makers and local workers. There was no controlled parking zone but some residents would welcome one. However, this could perhaps encourage speeding. Cars were able to park on Swan Road and this reduced the width of the carriageway and caused damage to parked cars when traffic tried to move through narrow space.

·         There had been accidents in Swan Road; last year there were four that the Ward Councillors had been informed about. However, the Police had no record of accidents on the road even though an accident last year had resulted in the road being closed.

·         Reference was made to a petition which had been submitted last year for a 20mph zone but it had been unsuccessful as Council investigations found there was an average speed of less than 30mph. However, as part of the time the traffic was slow, it was implied that at other times the traffic would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

Councillors Eddie Lavery and Michael White attended the meeting and each spoke as Ward Councillors. Ward Councillors were sympathetic with residents and supported them and the officer's report. They were impressed with the petitioner's packs and the petitioners open mindedness to alleviate the problem. Ward Councillors agreed with the proposal to conduct a formal exercise to monitor speeds.

The Petitioner provided information packs for the Cabinet Member. The Concerns and suggestions from the petitioner in SUPPORT included the following:

·         54 signatures had been  obtained from the 44 dwellings on the road.

·         Teams of residents had worked to develop evidence based data, one resident was a former traffic policeman, lecturer on traffic related matters at the Metropolitan Police training and consultant to Local Authorities and he had developed the data gathering process which had been employed.

·         The pack included - a paper on Traffic Calming Options, a questionnaire on neighbours' opinions and analysis, and a study of traffic flow.

·         The Petitioner reported that the traffic flow from both directions which had been suggested from the study that vehiclesavoided waiting to turn at the Elm Avenue / Field End Road traffic lights by using Hawthorne Avenue and Meadow Way or Hawthorne Avenue and Morford Way to continue their journey.

·         The study measured vehicle speeds over a distance of 100 metres, which was about half the length of Morford Way. 

·         The studies found that speed differed dramatically at different times of the day. Morford Way had limited width with parking down one side of the road; vehicles had to stop or slow down to give way at certain times of the day.  

·         On 7^th September 20% of vehicles had travelled at between 45 and 55 mph

·         On 8^th September 30% vehicles had travelled between 45 and 55 mph

·         10^th September 20% vehicles did so.

·         Other vehicles at peak times overall were travelling within the speed limit, but often vehicles for a proportion of the 100 meters were travelling faster than the speed limit.

·         On 17^th September at non-peak times there were fewer on-coming vehicles and 50% of vehicles were travelling in excess of 40 mph.

·         This pattern had not been  observed in Hawthorne Avenue as the road was wider, but the Cabinet Member was informed that on Boxing Day there had been an accident.

·         The lead petitioner welcomed any advice from officers including an independent vehicle speed and traffic survey, but suggested that a whole neighbourhood approach including Hawthorne Avenue and Meadow Way was required.

·         From the survey of residents there was a preference held by residents but not a uniform view that a tri-lateral approach was suitable.

·         It was requested that a well-signed 20 mph speed limit through the neighbourhood be introduced.

·         Also that a re-working of the timings of the traffic lights be implemented so that cars were encouraged to use them.

·         The installation of two shallow and wide speed bumps on Morford Way and at levels in Hawthorne Avenue and perhaps Meadow Way.

 The Cabinet Member,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

Councillors Jonathan Bianco, Duncan Flynn and John Morgan attended the meeting and each spoke as Ward Councillors.

The petitioner could not attend, local resident Professor Ward spoke on their behalf and provided photographs for the Cabinet Member. She expressed concerns and suggestions in SUPPORT which included the following:

·         There was a blind spot which was highlighted with the photographs provided.

·         It was suggested that a speed hump in Eastcote High Road near its junction with Larkswood Rise would calm traffic and improve safety.

·         The petition was supported by Northwood Hills and Eastcote Resident's Association.

Ward Councillors SUPPORTED the petition and made the following points:

·         That the traffic ignored speed limits and they would support traffic calming measures particularly as this was an old, bendy road.

·         That the road safety campaign should continue on from the 'Case is Altered' pub.

·         The Cabinet Member, Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns raised and noted that there was a strong case with the support of all 3 Ward Councillors.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member

1. Instructed officers to arrange a speed and vehicle survey at location suggested by petitioners and report the results back to the Cabinet Member and the local Ward Councillors. 

2. Asked officers to undertake further investigations under the Road Safety Programme and report back to the Cabinet Member.

Councillor Fyfe attended the meeting as a Ward Councillor. Councillor Oswell sent his support to the petitioners as he had to attend another meeting.

Concerns and suggestions from the lead petitioner included the following:

·         That the road surface was damaged.

·         That traffic speeded down the lane and that traffic calming measures were needed.

·         That a resident had had serious damage to her parked car.

·         That the local school resulted in increased parking at certain times of the day and some drivers parked on dropped kerbs. 

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member 

1.     Met with the petitioners and discussed their concerns

2. Agreed that the item be added to the future programme for possible resurfacing when appropriate.

3. Asked Officers to arrange speed and vehicle surveys at locations suggested by petitioners and report the results back to the Cabinet Member and local Ward Councillors. 

4. The Road Safety team be asked to look at Langdale Drive and consult with residents and Ward Councillors.

Councillor Manjit Khatra and Councillor June Nelson attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillors in support of the petition; Councillor Peter Money also sent his support to the petition.

The Lead petitioner presented the petition to the Cabinet Member, Councillor Keith Burrows and raised the following concerns and suggestion:-

·         The petition was requesting a parking management scheme in Harmondsworth Lane, West Drayton.

·         Reference was made to British Airways staff parking on the road on their non-parking days.

·         During the Christmas period 15 cars had been parked on the road for two weeks and that the cars looked like they were parked professionally as they were in very close proximity indicating that the road may being used for airport parking.

·         'Mediquip' vans were also parked on the lane.

·         There had been an overall increase in parking.

The Cabinet Member, Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns raised with current parking situation on Harmondsworth Lane.

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member asked that Ward Councillors be asked for their input and Officers be asked to conduct investigations into parking options for the road.