Agenda item

The lead petitioner was not in attendance but had submitted a written representation on behalf of petitioners which was read out for the attention of the Cabinet Member. Key points highlighted included:

• Increased traffic and speeding along North Hyde Road and the A312 had been observed over the last 5–10 years, particularly due to the opening of Costco and other businesses, as well as the development of the Nestlé Avenue flats. This had led to more vehicles using Crane Gardens as a cut through to bypass traffic.
• The combination of increased traffic and speeding posed serious safety hazards to pedestrians, cyclists, children, and elderly residents.
• Many residents had experienced property damage, such as broken mirrors and scrapes, but incidents often went unreported due to rising insurance costs.
• Increased traffic resulted in higher noise and air pollution levels, affecting the quality of residents' lives.
• The continuous flow of non-local traffic in a small residential road created unnecessary disturbances, and parking pressure was exacerbated by builders and contractors parking in Crane Gardens.
• Any proposed traffic-calming measures must not result in further loss of parking spaces which would only worsen the situation for residents.
• The petitioners requested the Council to explore measures to calm traffic on Crane Gardens and supported commissioning an independent traffic report.
• They also suggested comparing Crane Gardens with similar residential roads where speed-calming measures had been implemented and emphasised the need for solutions that did not compromise parking availability.
• Petitioner's appreciated the Council's time and consideration and expressed a willingness to work together to find a solution that enhanced safety and improved the quality of life of all residents.

The Cabinet Member thanked petitioners for their submission and noted the importance of not compromising current parking availability in Crane Gardens.

In response to questions from the Cabinet Member, officers confirmed that one accident in the area had been recorded. However, it was noted that officers only had access to Police data where the emergency services had been called out; minor scrapes and bumps were not recorded.

The Cabinet Member acknowledged that there had been a lot of development in the area which had resulted in increased volume of traffic and had added to parking stress.

At the request of the Cabinet Member, the Traffic, Parking, Road Safety and School Travel Team Manager explained that the proposed 24/7 traffic surveys would record the speed and types of vehicles using the road and would help to identify any patterns. It was confirmed that the pneumatic monitoring tubes would be in place to capture this information over a period of 10 days (school holiday times would be avoided). These surveys would provide officers with inciteful data and enable them to consider all the possible options available to them to address any issues identified. It was confirmed that officers would subsequently engage with residents and local Ward Councillors to discuss a way forward. It was acknowledged that some measures could result in a reduction of current parking space, but this aspect would be taken into consideration.

It was agreed that the Traffic, Parking, Road Safety and School Travel Team Manager would suggest where best to position the monitoring tubes and would keep Ward Councillors informed. 

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

1)    Heard from petitioners and listened to their request for ‘Speed Humps’ on Crane Gardens, Hayes; and

2)    Asked officers to commission independent 24/7 speed and traffic surveys on Crane Gardens, at locations agreed with petitioners and Ward Councillors.