Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

To consider the above petition, bearing 99 signatures, which has been submitted by Councillor Williams, a Bablake Ward Councillor, who has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) concerning a petition bearing 99 signatures which was supported by Councillor G Williams, a Bablake Ward Councillor, who attended the meeting and spoke on behalf of the petitioners. The petition spokesperson was also invited but was unable to attend. The report had been requested by Councillor Williams following the receipt of the determination letter. The petitioners were concerned about traffic issues caused by large HGVs using Hawkes Mill Lane between the Browns Lane and Washbrook Lane. Recently a few signs had been upgraded but they have had no mitigatory effects.  Some large blue Police signs as seen in Meriden had been promised but hadn’t been installed. There were very tight bends along with high and overgrown bushes, hedges and trees which restricted visibility and were obstructive to traffic, pedestrians and riders. The petitioners were suggesting a few road humps along the Lane could alleviate the traffic problems.

The report indicated that Hawkes Mill Lane was partly residential and partly rural in nature. The speed limit varied along the length of the road; it was 30mph where properties fronted the road and it was street lit, and the national speed limit applied in the area where there were no properties and the road was not lit. Various warning signs were also sited along the length of the road.

A review of the personal recorded injury collision history of Hawkes Mill Lane showed that in the last three years (for the time period up to 31 December 2016) no personal injury collisions had been recorded. A longer period of time than the normal 3 years was also investigated and this showed that no personal injury collisions had been recorded in the last ten years.

The Cabinet Member had considered the petition prior to this meeting and in response requested that the issue was dealt with by determination letter rather than a formal report being submitted to a meeting, to be able to deal with the matter more efficiently. A copy of the determination letter was attached at an appendix to the report. The letter advised that at the moment, there was not enough funding to pay for the many requests received from residents for traffic calming and other road safety measures. Therefore requests had to be prioritised using injury collision data and that records showed that there had been no injury collisions on Hawkes Mill Lane in the last three years, therefore, it did not meet the criterion. 

The letter also suggested that the petitioners might want to get involved in the Community Speedwatch initiative.

Councillor Williams informed of the Community Speedwatch exercises recently undertaken on Hawkes Mill Lane and highlighted the concerns of the local police regarding the speeding traffic. He referred to an e-mail from the petition spokesperson informing of residents’ concerns regarding the potential for accidents to occur. Councillor Williams requested that the speed limit on the 60mph section of the road be reduced. He also referred to the potential for an increase in traffic using the lane in connection with the opening of Amazon.

It was clarified that the section of the road with the 30 mph speed limit had been increased in November, 2015 and that if the police had concerns about traffic issues then they would undertake enforcement.

RESOLVED that the petitioners concerns be noted and the actions confirmed by determination letter to the petition spokesperson be endorsed.