Agenda item

Councillors Vanessa Hurhangee and Allan Kauffman attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillors in support of the petition.  Councillor Steve Tuckwell had given his apologies and emailed his comments to the Chairman in support of the petition – these were read out at the meeting. 

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

·         The Fairway was a well-used residential road that was continually accessed by road users as a through route between Queens Walk and Long Drive (leading to Station Approach) and the wider than average width of the road lent itself to excessive speeds;

·         Vehicles travelling through the traffic lights at Station Approach often sped up along The Fairway which had resulted in numerous accidents.  This situation was repeated in the opposite direction.  One resident had had a brick wall at the front of his property demolished on three separate occasions by drunk drivers, a parked van had been hit by a vehicle, two parked cars had been written off and one car had been turned on its bonnet.  Photographs of some of the accident scenes were passed to Councillor Burrows;

·         It had been reported by residents that worked late shifts that the speed of the traffic in the night was just as bad as in the day;

·         There was a high level of pedestrian footfall in The Fairway, with residents travelling to and from the nearby Tube Station as well as parents and children from a number of local schools who had to frequently cross the road;

·         The petition had received support from the local vicar as well as the parishioners as the church hall facilitated a range of community groups throughout the week including Brownies and Girl Guides.  Visitors to the church were having to edge out of the church car park very slowly else risk being hit by a speeding vehicle;

·         Delivery vehicles had been regularly seen speeding along The Fairway;

·         Over the years, as well as the speed of traffic increasing, the volume of traffic travelling along The Fairway towards the A40 had increased and congestion had also worsened across every day of the week;

·         It was suggested that the implementation of raised tables would physically slow these speeding vehicles down whereas a 20mph limit could be ignored;

·         A reduction in the vehicle emissions associated with higher speeds and engine acceleration would potentially improve air quality in the area;

·         It was suggested that, although the section between Queens Walk and Long Drive should be prioritised, speeding in the whole of The Fairway should be reviewed as road safety had also become an issue there; and

·         The Fairway carriageway and pavements were due to be resurfaced in the near future and it was suggested that this work be coordinated with any action taken to reduce speed.

Councillor Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  He noted that the local authority had obtained accident data from the police for the latest three-year period (to December 2017).  These records only included those incidents where there had been personal injury and did not include damage to walls or vehicles.  Councillor Burrows advised that a traffic survey would provide the Council with information about the speed, direction, type and time of vehicles travelling along The Fairway.  By surveying the whole of The Fairway, this information would identify where and when there were speeding issues.  An independent company would be commissioned to undertake the survey and report back with its findings. 

It was agreed that the Ward Councillors would take a map of the road away with them and liaise with the petitioners to determine roughly where the traffic surveys should be located along The Fairway.  The Ward Councillors would then need to pass these 3-4 locations on to the Traffic, Parking, Road Safety and School Travel Team Manager before Monday 17 September 2018 so that they could be discussed with the Cabinet Member at his meeting with the Transport and Projects Team on Monday evening. 

Once the traffic surveys had been commissioned, the results would be reported back to the Cabinet Member and, if speeding was shown to be an issue, the Transport and Projects Team would be tasked with identifying possible solutions.  Furthermore, if a specific issue was identified (for example, a single vehicle speeding in a certain direction at 10pm every night), the details could be shared with the police.

RESOLVED:  Meeting with the petitioners, the Cabinet Member:

1.         listened to their concerns with excessive traffic speeds in The Fairway.

2.         asked officers to undertake traffic surveys at 3-4 locations, to be agreed by the Ward Councillors with petitioners, and then report back to the Cabinet Member.

Reasons for recommendations

The Petition Hearing will provide a valuable opportunity to hear directly from the petitioners of their concerns and suggestions. 

Alternative options considered / risk management

None at this stage.