URGENT
The Parish Council recently received the following notice:
We will shortly be undertaking statutory consultation on a proposal to amend the speed limit in Tebworth to bring it in line with the Department for Transport guidance.
This proposal will see the speed limit on the approaches to the of the village on Toddington Road and Hockliffe Road where there is residential development on one side of the road only increased to 40mph. The 30 mph speed limit will change where properties appear on both sides of the road. This will help to increase compliance with speed limits in the areas where there are higher levels of activity and greater numbers of vulnerable road users and to increase the safety of road users in the area. In addition we will be looking to change the signage to increase awareness of the double bend and provide an advisory speed limit of 20mph through this section. We have liaised with Police traffic Management team on these proposals and they are fully supportive of this approach.
I have provided a copy of the public notice and drawings that will help the understanding of what we are proposing.
We will be sending out the se proposals to statutory consultees and will be putting notices up in Tebworth. The public notice will also be published in the local newspaper and on the ‘Public and Statutory Notices’ section of the CBC website.
The consultation will commence on Thursday 25th January and will close on Thursday 15th February.
I would be grateful if you could direct any people wishing to comment on the proposal to do so by emailing these to Traffic.Consultation@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
We welcome any feedback or comments you would like to make.
Best Regards,
Nick
Nick Shaw MSc BA MCIHT
Principal Highways Officer
Integrated Transport – Highways
Our response follows:
At a meeting of Chalgrave Parish Council last night, which was attended by members of the public, the proposed speed limit changes were discussed. There was unanimous opposition to raising the current 30mph to 40mph in and out of Tebworth. Over 25 years ago the parish council succeeded in getting the 30mph speed limit on these roads. Since then the Traffic-calming Committee of the parish council worked hard at achieving boundary gates, dragons’ teeth, rumble strips and Vehicle Activated Signs. The Traffic-calming Committee, along with the newly formed Speed Watch, and the police, have worked hard at making sure that drivers obey the speed limits.
In the past few years the parish council has been in discussion with both the police and Central Bedfordshire Traffic Management. They recognised the problem and they suggested the possibility of a 40mph buffer zone before reaching the 30mph speed limit.
Traffic-calming has long been a concern for people living in Tebworth. Speed reduction was a big concern in the Parish Appraisal in 1995 and in the Parish Plan in 2005 and the subsequent updates in 2007 and 2009 because the roads leading into Tebworth are long and straight encouraging drivers to drive way above the speed limit. As a result of these concerns there is a Speed Watch group, approved by the police, which goes out onto Toddington Road twice a month reminding drivers of the 30mph speed limit and reporting speeding motorists to the police.
Despite having houses on only one side of Toddington Road it is still a residential area and children cross the road in the mornings and afternoons to catch schools buses. There are people walking their dogs and horse riders using the road to access bridleways. Further, if you look back at the records, there have been numerous accidents where drivers have misjudged the bends with cars ending up in 1 Home Farm, cars ending up on the grass verge and lorries spilling their loads outside the Queen’s Head. Additionally there will be an access road on to Toddington Road from a new housing development at Ivy Farm.
There will be strong opposition from the entire parish to this proposal which we regard as madness. We note that the 40mph speed limit will bring it, to quote, ‘into line with DFT guidance’. The emphasis here is on guidance not rules and we hope that common sense will prevail and that you will listen to the people who live in the area and know the problems and issues.
Chalgrave Parish Council
We will post the maps to make completely clear what is proposed. If you wish to comment on the proposed changes please contact:
Traffic.Consultation@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
If you have any difficulties doing this then please contact the Parish Clerk. We only have until February 15th so please act now!
Councillor Mike Wells.
Interesting scheme carried out in Spain. Would work well in Tebworth. Pedestrian controlled crossing near the centre, which will also turn to red if a vehicle approaches at much more than 30 mph. The lights fitted with camera to deter ‘jumpers’. Drivers would soon get the message! .