Agenda item

The Cabinet Member considered a petition requesting a 20 mph speed limit on Abbotsbury Gardens, Eastcote.

The lead petitioner put forward to the Cabinet Member some reasons to action the request for a 20 mph speed limit on Abbotsbury Gardens, Eastcote. Key points raised by the petitioner included:

·       Many drivers frequently used Abbotsbury Gardens as a shortcut, primarily to access Eastcote Road and continue to Pinner. This residential road was home to a mix of elderly residents and families with young children. Notably, some of these young children walked to the nearby Canon Lane Primary School, which was at the end of the road of Abbotsbury Gardens.

·       In response to growing concerns about the potential for serious accidents or fatalities due to speeding, the lead petitioner contacted one of their Ward Councillors in December 2023 to express their concerns. The Councillor advised the lead petitioner to gather evidence for their proposal of a 20 mph speed limit on Abbotsbury Gardens by raising a petition.

·       Following this advice, the lead petitioner visited 113 households over several days and engaged with 74 households, while the remaining households were either not at home or unable to answer the door.

·       The lead petitioner reported that 71 out of the 74 households they spoke to had signed the petition, reflecting 96% unambiguous support for the proposed speed limit of 20 mph on the road.

·       The lead petitioner noted he had lived on Abbotsbury Gardens for 17 years. Additionally, two of his neighbours, who were also petitioners, had lived on the same road for 7 years and 46 years, respectively. The consensus was that speeding was becoming worse.

·       The lead petitioner attributed increased speeding to recent Council changes. The first was the changing of the speed limit on Field End Road through Eastcote High Street purportedly due to the addition of extra pedestrian crossings. Consequently, drivers heading north through Eastcote on Field End Road at 20 mph and then turning into Abbotsbury Gardens encountered signage indicating a 30 mph limit, which effectively encouraged them to accelerate to a 50% higher speed on a residential street. This situation had become a growing concern among residents.

·       The second change involved the imposition of a £75 fee on residents for parking their cars on the street. In consequence, most households now opted to park their vehicles on their driveway, resulting in very few cars being parked on the street. This, then, became an invitation for some drivers to speed. The resident cited that data from the Department of Transport supported this observation, revealing that on so-called free flowing roads lacking bends, speed humps, cameras, and other restrictions, 50% of cars exceeded the 30 mph speed limit.

·       The lead petitioner highlighted point 10 of the petition report and expressed concerns regarding the claim that 20 mph speed limits only result in a 1 mph reduction in speed.

·       The petitioner also conveyed that a pedestrian struck by a car traveling at 30 mph was eight times more likely to be killed than a pedestrian hit by a car moving at 20 mph. Furthermore, for every 1 mph reduction in average speed, there was a 6% reduction in casualties and injury severity.

·       Additional reference was made to the petition report by the lead petitioner, which emphasized that the responsibility for enforcing speed limits rested with the police. Consequently, the lead petitioner engaged in a discussion with a local police officer, who conveyed that the police faced resource shortages in terms of both personnel and equipment. Following the officer’s request for the lead petitioner to send an email, the petitioner had not received any response thereafter.

·       It was noted that while police presence was one method of enforcing speed limits, it was not the sole approach. Last year, a significant number of residents with dash cam recorders in their car submitted over 33,000 videos to the police through the National Dash Cam Safety Portal. Over 70% of these videos resulted in police action, leading to warnings, penalty points, or prosecutions.

·       The lead petitioner summarized that the changes implemented by Hillingdon Council had inadvertently heightened hazards for Abbotsbury Gardens residents. The petitioner cited that according to Section 39 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, local authorities bore a statutory duty take steps to prevent accidents.

·       The lead petitioner’s conclusive plea was for a 20 mph speed limit on Abbotsbury Gardens to reduce the risk of fatalities or serious injuries to both residents and visitors.

The Cabinet Member expressed familiarity with the Eastcote area and specifically, the road on Abbotsbury Gardens. Upon receiving the submitted petition, the Cabinet Member had visited Abbotsbury Gardens to assess the situation personally.

The Cabinet Member acknowledged the concerns raised by the lead petitioner but expressed reservations regarding the implementation of 20 mph zones, as these were not enforceable by the Council but by the police, as the lead petitioner had already discovered himself.

He further noted that, aside from the Council's inability to enforce 20 mph zones, it was also lacked jurisdiction to enforce speed limits using tools, such as speed cameras and speed guns. Currently, the Council's willingness to implement 20 mph zones was limited to areas surrounding schools where none were already in place.

He suggested alternatives such as vehicle-activated signs (VASs) and conducting a speed survey on Abbotsbury Gardens to gauge the extent of the issue.

The Traffic Parking Road Safety School Manager encouraged the lead petitioner to indicate on the location plan where the speed issues were most severe. Once pinpointed, an independent 24/7 traffic and speed survey would be initiated.

In response to the Cabinet Member further emphasising that speed limits could not be enforced by the Council, the lead petitioner proposed equipping cars parked on the road with dash cam recorders, enabling enforcement by submitting their footage to the police.

The Cabinet Member heard from two additional Abbotsbury Gardens residents expressing their concerns about speeding on the road. Further discussion addressed residents' suggestions, including the installation of vehicle-activated signs.

The Cabinet Member further noted that the Council’s £75 parking permit charge was amongst the lowest in London, comparing favourably with neighbouring local authorities.

Following general enquiries by petitioners around the nature and function of speed cameras, the Cabinet Member clarified that speed cameras were managed by the police and typically placed on main road to generate revenue.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet Member for Property, Highways and Transport:

1)    Met with petitioners and listened to their request to reduce the speed limit in Abbotsbury Gardens to 20 mph.

2)    Asked officers to explore the feasibility of implementing vehicle-activated signs (VASs) to regulate speed;

3)    Requested officers to commission independent 24/7 traffic and speed surveys on Abbotsbury Gardens at locations agreed with petitioners and ward councillors, and to report back to the Cabinet Member on the outcome.