Agenda item

Councillors Jem Duducu and Alan Kauffman attended the meeting and each spoke as a Ward Councillor.

Concerns and suggestions from petitioners included the following:

·         Ruislip Gardens Primary School was trying to encourage children to walk to school, but the speed of traffic in the area was a concern that threatened this aim.

·         The petitioners were requesting that a 20mph speed limit be introduced on the Ruislip Gardens Estate. The School's Travel Plan also supported this aim. The roads of most concern were Stafford Road, Bedford Road and Clyfford Road.

·         Cars frequently parked on both sides of roads in the area. This reduced visibility.

·         A serious collision had occurred on the estate in July 2014. A child had been knocked down by a van and had needed to be transported to hospital by air ambulance.

Ward Councillors spoke in support of the petitioners’ request and raised the following issues:

·         Any changes to the speed limit should be made to the whole estate, although it was noted that vehicles were only likely to be able to pick up speed on Stafford Road, Bedford Road and Clyfford Road.

·         There was only one road in an out of the estate, so by definition, it would not be used as a thoroughfare. Traffic on the estate would either be travelling to or from a residence or to or from the school.

·         A 20mph speed limit should be considered, while bearing in mind the need to keep costs down.

·         Installation of speed bumps should be considered in Clyfford Road and Bedford Road and possibly, also in Stafford Road.

·         Signage could be considered to remind motorists that the estate is a residential area, but signage in relation to this and the speed limit was not likely to be effective without other measures also being taken.

·         The provision of dropped curbs on a road did not preclude the use of speed bumps.

·         There were approximately 600 houses on the Ruislip Gardens Estate.

The Cabinet Member, Councillor Keith Burrows, listened to the concerns raised and agreed that signage alone was not likely to significantly reduce vehicle speeds within the Ruislip Gardens Estate. The Cabinet Member advised that accident data provided to the Council by Police had not included the serious accident in July 2014 that had been referenced by the petitioner. Officers were asked to investigate this further.

Cllr Burrows advised that, in order for the Council to consider reducing the speed limit or installing speed bumps within the Ruislip Gardens Estate, it first needed to obtain evidence that there was evidence of excessive speed in the area. The most effective and nationally recognised method for obtaining such evidence was through the undertaking of a speed and vehicle survey on the Estate.

The petitioners and Ward Councillors present were asked to help identify locations on the estate for the survey to be carried out at. Following discussion, four locations were agreed. It was confirmed that the survey would provide data on vehicle speeds, time of day and vehicle size. In the event that specific concerns were identified e.g. motorists regularly exceeding the existing speed limit at a certain time of day, this information would be passed to the Police for them to consider enforcement action.  

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

1.    Met with the petitioners to discuss their request for a 20mph speed limit.

2.    Asked officers to arrange a speed and vehicle survey at locations suggested by the petitioners, for the results to be reported back to the Cabinet Member and local Ward Councillors.

3.    Subject to 1 and 2, asked officers to undertake further investigations under the Road Safety Programme and report back to him.