Agenda and minutes

Matthew Walsh [MW] (Chairman of the North West Chilterns Community Board – NWC CB ) welcomed everyone to the meeting to discuss the three petitions that had been received by the Community Board.

MW asked Jackie Binning (JB) to outline the structure of the meeting. JB advised that the following petitions would be presented by Neil O’Learly (NOL):

• Bledlow Ridge Traffic Calming
• Speed Calming in Lacey Green
• Radnage School Safety

JB confirmed that after each presentation there would be an opportunity to ask questions and then the NWC CB would agree the recommendations/next steps.

MW informed the CB that the meeting would be recorded for the purposes of JB writing the notes. Once the notes had been approved the recording would be destroyed.

Apologies for absence were received from Buckinghamshire Council Councillors Darren Hayday, Orsolya Hayday, Robert Carington, Alan Turner; Councillor Simon Digby, Piddington and Wheeler End Parish Council, Councillor Robin Thomas, Stokenchurch Parish Council, Councillor Surinder Marshall, Princes Risborough Town Council, Councillor Wendy Monroe-West, Downley Parish Council, Sophie Payne, Service Director, Wendy Morgan-Brown, Head of Community Boards, Makyla Devlin, Senior Community Board Manager and Nicola Surman, Funding and Support Team Leader.

There were no declarations of interest.

Report to be presented by Neil O’Leary, Network Safety Team Leader, Buckinghamshire Highways (see report attached).

Questions/Consider recommendations and agree next steps

To be led by Cllr Matthew Walsh.

NOL queried how the reports should be presented. JB stated that if meeting attendees had read the petition reports then an overview would be suffice. It was therefore agreed that NOL would read the Executive Summary and the Recommendations and then hand over to the CB for questions.

NOL read the Executive Summary and Recommendations for this petition – see petition report in the agenda pack.

Questions:

Stephen Reading (SR – Lead Petitioner) referred to Recommendation 2 in terms of analysing the speed data in accordance with Bledlow cum Saunderton’s Neighbourhood Plan 2017. SR stated that as per the presentation (Powerpoint slides) he forwarded as part of the supporting information, a speed survey which the Parish Council had commissioned from Transport for Bucks in November and December 2022. SR said that this information had also been presented to the NWC CB Transport and Road Issues Action Group (TRIAG) some months ago. The speed data showed that 25% or more of vehicles throughout the survey were travelling at 35mph or more.  SR did not think that Recommendation 2 was accurate.

SR added that the Parish Council were looking for something more than what Recommendation 1 described.  SR confirmed that the Parish Council would like more than a redesigned sign as the Parish had these already and a Vehicle Activated Signed.

NOL responded and said that he was aware that speed data had been collected, but was not aware of the level it had been analysed. SR advised that very comprehensive data was produced by Buckinghamshire Council which was also detailed in his presentation. Furthermore, some drivers had historically driven at speeds of 60 to 70mph to the end of village, so that’s why the Parish Council felt that further traffic measures were required. SR said that he would be happy to have a conversation on what might be possible.

NOL stressed that it was not that he wasn’t aware that the data existed, it was more that the data had not been analysed by designers who would determine what might be the best options in terms of traffic calming.

Jim Stevens (JS) then introduced himself as the Chair of the NWC CB’s Transport and Road Issues Action Group. JS confirmed that TRIAG had a met SR a few months ago and discussed at length the traffic conditions in Bledlow Ridge. JS stated that TRIAG supported the petition and the need for physical traffic calming in the village. JS said that it was a linear village, a long straight road with houses either side, and there was not much encouragement for drivers to slow down.

JS confirmed that the Parish Council had over the years implemented softer measures. There were two Vehicle Activated Signs in the village and red friction surfacing and road markings where the speed limit changed, but drivers still drove at speed. TRIAG believed that physical measures were now required which was the basis of the petition and referenced in item 3.7 of the petition report.

JS advised  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Report to be presented by Neil O’Leary, Network Safety Team Leader, Buckinghamshire Highways (see report attached).

Questions/Consider recommendations and agree next steps

To be led by Cllr Matthew Walsh.

NOL read the Executive Summary and Recommendations for this petition – see petition report in the agenda pack.

Questions

Sue Sidley (SS – Lead Petitioner) confirmed that she had organised for a few members of her Road Safety Group and local residents to join this meeting.

SS confirmed that she had sent the speed data which were collected by Community Speed Watch. Trevello strips were put down and information from an MVAS unit were collected, as well as photographs showing drivers parking in dangerous situations.

SS asked if the footway in Recommendation 2 was referring to the one on New Road or Main Road. NOL confirmed that it was New Road. SS advised that were problems on Main Road as well with speed and parked cars which she didn’t feel was reflected in the petition report. Community Speed Watch have identified that parking of school cars was creating a huge issue as well as speeding – one driver was caught doing 63mph at 9am outside the school which was considered very dangerous.

SS added that from Main Road there were children coming into school facing the other way from Lacey Green. The speed signs go from 60mph to 30mph and the 30mph sign was not clearly visible. SS confirmed that you couldn’t see a school coming up and was on a bend with a bus stop which was a notorious bottleneck and very dangerous. There were also parents parking in the 60mph area on New Road which created a problem on the blind bend coming around the corner from the other direction.  SS believed this was an accident waiting to happen and this was why the petition was raised.

SS stated that there had been a few accidents.  One car was written off and her son could have been in the vehicle five minutes later. The accident happened quite near the school.

SS referred to the petition report which stated that Thames Valley Police had said there had been no accidents in the area.  SS confirmed that she knew of serious accidents in 2022 and had photographs to evidence these.

NOL responded and said that in terms of the Community Speed Watch data, he could not dispute the figures presented but it was for a three month period and no other speed checks had been carried out since December 2022. NOL said that generally, Community Speed Watch data was reviewed over a longer period of time, and this provided a bigger dataset and allowed the Council to get rid of those anomalies. NOL recognised that Community Speed Watch data was an effective tool and had seen great results in other areas.  However, it was a slow build and data was required over a longer period of time (Action LG/01).

SS stated that the Parish Council had invested in MVAS units and that data from these units (pre-covid and March this year) provided similar figures, so this delivered quite a long history of speeding vehicles. NOL said that he didn’t  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report to be presented by Neil O’Leary, Network Safety Team Leader, Buckinghamshire Highways (see report attached).

Questions/Consider recommendations and agree next steps

To be led by Cllr Matthew Walsh.

As the Lead Petitioner did not attend this meeting, MW asked the Community Board if they had any questions.

JS stated that the Parish Council attended a TRIAG meeting a few months back to present their concerns with the traffic around the school.  Their petition was largely the product of that discussion.

JS advised that one of things TRIAG suggested was the use of yellow amber flashing lights that could be placed either side of the school during pick up and drop off times.  JS said this would draw motorists attention to the fact that they were approaching a school. JS thought this was a good idea but did not see any reference to this in the petition report.

JS confirmed that TRIAG also suggested removing the road centre line and putting edge lines down. JS added that NOL was aware of these, so any future work should look at these to take a view on whether they were feasible and appropriate. NOL stated these were included in Recommendation 1.

MW asked if the Community Board had anything further to add. As no one did, MW advised that the Community Board was happy to agree the recommendations (Action RS/01).

Summary of the actions discussed:

Action RS/01:Cris Everett (Lead Petitioner) to consider Recommendations 1, 2, 3 and 4.

MW then thanked NOL for all his hard work and said he found it useful.

MW thanked the Board members for attending and then closed the meeting at 7.30pm.