Question

A consultation on speed limit changes was initiated by a householder letter on 25^thJuly and the last date for comments was 18^th August. Barkham Parish Council, who were not consulted, feel that this TRO is not satisfactory and that since the changes are due to the new school complex, Bearwood Road (within Barkham), Barkham Street and Langley Common Road should be considered as part of this TRO.

The School is due to open in a matter of days and we are bewildered by the fact that no thought was given to this until July and also why the Traffic Management Team will not meet with the Parish Council to discuss their proposals until the end of September, when, presumably their changes will already be in place.

Answer

Barkham Street and Bearwood Road (the section within Barkham and north of The Lilacs) are considered to be outside of the defined walked routes associated with access improvements to the new Bohunt School. Reducing the speed limit to 30mph on Langley Common Road was considered and formed part of the proposed speed limit reductions review in accordance with the Department for Transport Circular 01/2013 “Setting Local Speed Limits”. Unfortunately the outcome of the review was that the speed limit reduction to 30pmh could not be introduced as it did not meet the required criteria and therefore is not currently supported by Thames Valley Police; who are responsible for enforcement of speed limits.

I confirm the formal consultation on the proposed TRO, to reduce speed limits on three sections of roads, commenced on 25^th July 2016.  This consultation included a letter drop to all residents on each of the roads, notices on streets, adverts in the local newspaper and on the Council website.  E-mails were also sent to affected parish councils including Barkham Parish Council via an address which has since unfortunately transpired to be out of date and for this we apologise. However Barkham Parish did become aware of the consultation and the Council received and considered their response as part of the overall 43 received. I confirm also that Barkham Parish Council’s response has been fully considered and is included in the Executive report scheduled for tonight.

The statement that the Council had not given this any thought until July 2016 is incorrect. Discussions with the Project Team, Parents Reference Group and the Council’s Education Team have been ongoing since December 2015 and in addition a number of these highway issues and concerns were discussed directly with Barkham Parish Council during a meeting with Highways Officers in May 2016. The reason the Traffic Management Team have declined to meet with Barkham Parish Council again before the end of September is because the Team have been prioritising the three speed limit reductions proposed in the Executive report, that met the “Setting Local Speeds” Department for Transport review criteria, and which were supported by Thames Valley Police plus other measures associated with access improvements to the new Bohunt School prior to this School opening in early September.

Supplementary Question

I am particularly worried about the Bearwood Road section.  I used to live on Bearwood Road and lived there for some 25 years. I drove from Sindlesham, as is my want, at 38mph as soon as I received this.  I came down Bearwood Hill and attempted to suddenly, or fairly suddenly, reduce my speed to 30mph at the point at which you have decided it is no longer necessary.  It is exceptionally dangerous and I wouldn’t recommend it.  The people who live on that side of the road have no footpath for them to walk on.  They have to cross a road, and in fact are told they need to cross the road, and you are asking them to cross the road in a 40mph limit area when you have denied them a footpath to travel on.  Most of those residents are elderly and we have been fighting for years to get the speed limit on that road down to 30mph. I just find it astounding that you can chop off half a road half way down a hill.

Supplementary Answer

I note your comments and what I can say is we will consider your proposal in the coming months.