Agenda item

Councillors’ David Benson and Sukhpal Brar attended as Ward Councillor’s in support of the petitioners. 

Concerns, comments and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• Mr Spink, the lead petitioner, spoke on behalf of the petitioners.
• At a Councillor Ward surgery the question of parking at the entrance to the village had been raised. As a result the present petition was organised and sent to the Council for consideration.
• Mr Spink was a Committee member for HASRA and therefore did this on behalf of the residents.
• Many drivers he spoke to were very frustrated at the parking of two large vans and cars which were frequently parked just inside the village entrance.
• This blocked the view for cars trying to enter the village. Drivers could not see if there was a vehicle approaching from the West as they got into the village from the East.
• If drivers tried to come in around the vehicles that were parked there and there werecars coming towards them then they would have to back up to let the cars come through.
• During school traffic peak times there often was a line of cars trying to get out of the village and the traffic was very busy at this time.
• There were often occasions when drivers became abusive and offensive.
• The problems with the parking had been going on for many years; the Council had introduced some double yellow lines but these did not solve the problem fully as the lines did not reach far enough into the village. The petitioners asked if the double yellow lines could be extended further into the High Street.
• The petitioner spoke about the chicane at the end of Acacia Mews. He suggested that if this was removed it would facilitate a free flow of traffic.

Ward Councillors spoke and raised the following points:

• It was noted that a major accident by the church had left part of the church damaged.
• This area was extremely problematic for traffic and the mini-roundabout was very busy.
• As vehicles came into the High Street cars could be backed up onto Hatch Lane due to the congestion.
• People were parking along the road with large vans and this caused problems with the congestion on the road.
• The Ward Councillors asked the Cabinet Member to agree measure which would clear the bottleneck and help traffic flow.
• Ward Councillors had carried out site visits and could confirm what residents were saying was 100% correct.

Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised:

• The Cabinet Member was familiar with the area and the problems on the road.
• He advised that to include the ‘at any time’ waiting restrictions this had to be advertised, under the relevant legislation. A notice would be placed in the local press and notices would be put on lampposts in the area.
• If any objections were received these would be passed to the Cabinet Member for consideration. If no objections were received then the necessary work could be carried out.

Officers advised that:

• Officers would put on hold the ‘Manchester pattern’ bollard that had been ordered to replace the damage that done, whilst a review of the area was carried out.

Resolved - That the Cabinet Member:

1.                  Met and discussed with petitioners their request for the installation of ‘at any time’ waiting restrictions.

2.                  Asked officers to include the request as part of the Council’s Road Safety Programme.

3.                  Instructed Officers to inspect the bollard that was broken and report to the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transportation & Recycling.

Reasons for recommendation

Discussions with the petitioners allowed the Cabinet Member to fully understand the concerns and if it was considered appropriate add the request to the Council’s Road Safety Programme.

Alternative Options Considered

These were identified from the discussions with the petitioners.