Questions from the Public for Oral Response:
1) Items 14e and 14f [p261] of the agenda regarding South Eden Park Rd and roundabout safety scheme and Local Implementation Plan. While welcoming the proposals to mitigate accidents to road and pavement users at the roundabout, I’d like to know why there are no proposals to improve the safety of children and parents who cross South Eden Park road between Harvington Estate, and Unicorn School every day, without a safe crossing, or methods to slow traffic down. There are also concerns about the extremely narrow pavements along this road making pedestrians vulnerable to pollution and possible accidents. What is being done to make this a safe place for your residents to use?
Officers are looking at how crossing facilities might be improved near Creswell Drive.
Supplementary: What will it take for the Council to get on and make this area safe for our schoolchildren. I would really like to see some work done on this crossing, something to slow the traffic down as its extremely dangerous for parents and children who are trying to cross every day.
I recognise the problems in South Eden Park Road and have been on a visit there with Ward Councillor Christine Harris. There are difficulties about the site of the Zebra Crossing, for instance there is a bus stop to the south of Cresswell Drive. We are looking at Cresswell Drive to see if there is a crossing that we can put there to make things safer.
Questions from the Public for Written Response:
1) The overspill effects of Controlled Parking Zone W have been blighting neighbouring streets in Chatterton Village for over a decade. Is the Portfolio Holder content that the council has properly assessed and understands these effects, and has taken appropriate steps to mitigate them for residents?
A consultation with residents on the edge of the zone has recently concluded, and the results are being assessed before any further changes might be introduced.
2) Please explain why you regard payments to the second contractor repairing pothole as “commercially sensitive” when all contracts over £50k require to be reported on the public contracts register, and all payments to contractors over £500 are also reported publicly?
Details regarding order values and payment can be shared, and included in publicly available reports, although unit rates for specific tasks are considered commercially sensitive.
3) In response to a Question on 23/03/22, 16 roads in Cray Valley and Orpington were listed as experiencing Surface Water Flooding in 2021. Please identify roads, together with dates they flooded, and detail any actions taken to encourage Bromley residents to use permeable surfacing in front gardens to reduce run – off.
The following roads were flooded on 20th October 2021;
Station Road, St Marys Cray
Leesons Hill Primary School,
Kynaston Road Orpington
Edmund Road Orpington
Hockenden Lane,
Blacksmiths Lane, St Marys Cray
High Street, St Marys Cray
Chelsfield Lane
Clarendon Grove
Elmcroft Road Orpington,
Somerden Road,
Cockmannings Road,
Hodson Crescent,
Rookery Gardens,
Sholden Gardens
We always ask for permeable paving to be incorporated in front gardens for new developments requiring planning permission. Householders do not require planning permission for hard surfaces, provided that there is permitted development right and comply with the relevant planning condition – any area of hard surface exceeding 5 square metres requires that the hard surface is made of porous materials, or run-off water is directed to a permeable or porous area or surface within the curtilage of the dwellinghouse.
4) The junction of Stone Park Avenue and Village Way in Beckenham is a main pedestrian route from Eden Park to Beckenham. There is no controlled pedestrian crossing at this junction, which suffers frequently from speeding vehicles. Therefore, pedestrians are at the mercy of drivers slowing down and allowing them to cross safely, something which doesn’t happen often enough. Can the committee make a decision to have a controlled pedestrian crossing at this junction?
This location was subject to a trial scheme in 2017 when the all-red stage for drivers was increased to allow more time for pedestrians to cross. The Council received complaints about the increased delays to traffic on this route so reverted the signal timings to what was there previously. I expect that if the Council were to add pedestrian time here it would still lead to unacceptable delays, but I will ask Officers to add this location to the list for a study in due course.
5) Agenda Item 14f. LIP Funded Traffic and Road Safety Programme (1) - Paragraph 3.1 states “Traffic congestion, road safety and parking problems are a significant challenge for the Borough. Due to the potential for considerable growth in the local population, changing travel patterns and a desire to support active travel, we must have a sound policy for managing the traffic and parking demands that will arise in the future, whilst taking all reasonable measures to reduce road casualty numbers.
Question: How does encouraging more people to drive to Bromley Town centre by advertising ‘£7 a day parking at the Civic Centre multi-storey car park’ help the Portfolio Holder solve the “significant challenge” of traffic congestion and road danger, instead of promoting walking, cycling and public transport alternatives “to support active travel”?
It is not our policy to penalise users of our town centres with unreasonable parking
tariffs. We recognise that people use our town centres for shopping, employment
and leisure and that for many purposes a car is essential. At the same time we
strive, in co-operation with both Southeastern trains and Transport for London, to
ensure excellent public transport connections and I recently met representatives of
both organisations to discuss further improvements. We have installed a number of
crossings to improve pedestrian safety and a major portion of the High Street has
been pedestrianised for many years. The section from Market Square to the
Beckenham Lane is a 20 MPH zone. Cycle parking has been provided at a number
of locations.
