Agenda item

St Joseph’s School was the subject of a Road Safety Outside Schools report, which was reported to Committee in June 2019.  In response to this Committee decided to commission a feasibility report to investigate a number of different options for improvements on the approaches to St Joseph’s School.  This feasibility report is included as Annex A to this report, and outlines a number of options for improvements for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists in Rosebank and Whitehorse Drive.

That the Local Committee [Epsom & Ewell] agreed:

(i)      By reference to Annex A of the report to, implement options 2, 5 and 6 of the feasibility report in a future Financial Year, at an estimated cost of £42,000.
  

(ii)      Authorise the Area Highway Manager in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and relevant Divisional Member(s) to undertake all necessary procedures to deliver the agreed Committee highway programmes.

(iii)     That the Chairman and the Borough Council Town ward councillor (Cllr Dallen) works with the school and highway officers to consider other solutions for the relocation of the disabled bay mentioned in Option 3.

Reasons:  Options 2, 5, and 6 are improvements for pedestrians and cyclists, and are therefore in keeping with our objectives relating to climate change and sustainable transport.  Relocation of the disabled bay may improve traffic flow and road safety.

Declarations of Interest: Cllr Bernie Muir declared a prejudicial interest in this item as a resident of the area and was not present in the meeting.

Officers attending: Nick Healey, Area Highways Manager

Petitions, Public Questions/Statements: None

Member discussion – key points

The Area Highways Manager introduced the report and ran through the various options outlined in the feasibility report. He indicated that the Borough Council had agreed to release some of the land in the verges to allow some of the improvements if agreed by the Committee.

He was not recommending the relocation of parking into laybys as this may not improve the issue as vehicles may still stop in the area, even if parking restrictions are put in place and could encourage car journeys.  Making it easier for traffic to exit could also increase the speed of traffic and increase the danger to children crossing.  In addition, one of the spaces is used by a disabled driver who could continue to park on a single yellow line or relocate further down the road.

Members were concerned that the current situation in place for the circulation of traffic in Rosebank during pick up and drop off could be dangerous for pedestrians and if the school stopped allowing the circulation of traffic it would be more difficult for vehicles to turn round elsewhere in the road.  They considered the safety of children should be paramount.  It was suggested that there could be alternative options for moving the vehicles blocking the road, using parking restrictions instead of creating bays, which would be cheaper to implement.

The Parking Engineer indicated that parents are currently often parking in residents parking bays resulting in them having to leave their cars on yellow lines where they often receive parking tickets.  Members commented that experience with other local schools suggests that parents often take no notice of restrictions put in place and it is not practical to provide enforcement every day.

In terms of improvements in Whitehouse Drive the Area Highways Manager indicated that a pavement around the bell mouth is considered to be the best option as it is unlikely that pedestrians would use a crossing point.

The Chairman indicated that she was happy to use her allocated budget to make improvements in both the current and next financial year.

It was noted that any changes to parking in Rosebank would need to be included in the next parking review for which limited funding is available and would need to be considered along with other proposals, many of which are also in the vicinity of schools.

The Area Highway Manger clarified that the recommendation was intended to indicate that options 2, 5 and 6 should be prioritised above the other options in the feasibility study and not above other options in the Committee programmes.

Resolved:

(i)      By reference to Annex A of the report to, implement options 2, 5 and 6 of the feasibility report in a future Financial Year, at an estimated cost of £42,000.
  

(ii)      Authorise the Area Highway Manager in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and relevant Divisional Member(s) to undertake all necessary procedures to deliver the agreed Committee highway programmes.

(iii)     (On a motion proposed by Cllr Dallen and seconded by Cllr Mountain)  That the Chairman and the Borough Council Town ward councillor (Cllr Dallen) works with the school and highway officers to consider other solutions for the relocation of the disabled bay mentioned in Option 3.

Reasons:  Options 2, 5, and 6 are improvements for pedestrians and cyclists, and are therefore in keeping with our objectives relating to climate change and sustainable transport.  Relocation of the disabled bay may improve traffic flow and road safety.