Agenda item

A petition of over 100 signatories has been received and reads:

We, the undersigned residents of Bletchingley, formally request that the present 30 mph speed limit within the High Street of Bletchingley (between The Bletchingley Arms and The Red Lion) remains in force taking into consideration the following factors:

• Restricted sightlines for residents accessing and exiting the main A25 from driveways and parking directly fronting the A25 and also the service roads throughout the village are extremely dangerous.
• Restricted sightlines for pedestrians (including school children and senior citizens) crossing either side of the A25 at any point throughout the High Street due to traffic travelling at speed through the village, including a very large number of articulated lorries and trucks.
• Lack of speed cameras here into the village at either end will not only further compromise our safety on a daily basis encouraging drivers to go even faster but will impact on our environment.
• Repairs to the A25 after the gas works last July have not been restored to the quality prior the works and as a result there are bumps left in the road.
• When larger vehicles hit these at speed, not only is this not safe, all of the older properties on the A25 shake with the impact. Given how many lorries pass through the A25 on a daily and nightly basis we all worry about the structures of our properties over time. This would be greatly reduced if there were measures throughout the village to slow their speed appropriately

Solutions to improve the present road conditions for motorists travelling along this section of the A25 as well as pedestrians are as follows:

• A more holistic approach be taken, specifically with regards to the safety of all pedestrians (including school children and the elderly), cyclists, parked cars and drivers in contact with the A25 and surrounding roads.
• We propose two active speed cameras, one either end of the village (e.g. from The Bletchingley Arms coming into the village from Godstone and by the barbers at the top of the village coming into the village from Redhill).
• We also propose a zebra crossing near the Village Store almost opposite the Whyte Hart (not opposite the Post Office which is further up the High Street).
• In the meantime we would like to have SIDS installed either end of the High Street (as specified above). We know drivers their current speed so they are reminded to slow down entering the village. Therefore, data from these can be monitored by the council to assess typical speeds of drivers currently travelling through the village.

PETITION: ZEBRA CROSSING AND TWO SPEED CAMERAS IN BLETCHINGLEY HIGH STREET

We, the undersigned residents of Bletchingley, formally request that the present 30 mph speed limit within the High Street of Bletchingley (between The Bletchingley Arms and The Red Lion) remains in force taking into consideration the following factors:

• Restricted sightlines for residents accessing and exiting the main A25 from driveways and parking directly fronting the A25 and also the service roads throughout the village are extremely dangerous.
• Restricted sightlines for pedestrians (including school children and senior citizens) crossing either side of the A25 at any point throughout the High Street due to traffic travelling at speed through the village, including a very large number of articulated lorries and trucks.
• Lack of speed cameras here into the village at either end will not only further compromise our safety on a daily basis encouraging drivers to go even faster but will impact on our environment.
• Repairs to the A25 after the gas works last July have not been restored to the quality prior the works and as a result there are bumps left in the road.
• When larger vehicles hit these at speed, not only is this not safe, all of the older properties on the A25 shake with the impact. Given how many lorries pass through the A25 on a daily and nightly basis we all worry about the structures of our properties over time. This would be greatly reduced if there were measures throughout the village to slow their speed appropriately

Solutions to improve the present road conditions for motorists travelling along this section of the A25 as well as pedestrians are as follows:

• A more holistic approach be taken, specifically with regards to the safety of all pedestrians (including school children and the elderly), cyclists, parked cars and drivers in contact with the A25 and surrounding roads.
• We propose two active speed cameras, one either end of the village (e.g. from The Bletchingley Arms coming into the village from Godstone and by the barbers at the top of the village coming into the village from Redhill).
• We also propose a zebra crossing near the Village Store almost opposite the Whyte Hart (not opposite the Post Office which is further up the High Street).
• In the meantime we would like to have SIDS installed either end of the High Street (as specified above). We know drivers their current speed so they are reminded to slow down entering the village. Therefore, data from these can be monitored by the council to assess typical speeds of drivers currently travelling through the village.

Submitted by: Lucy Denny and Lisa Marriott

Signatures: 100+

Response:

The A25 High Street, Bletchingley is part of the principle A25 linking Redhill in the west with Surrey’s border with Kent in the east. This part of the A25 travels through several villages including, Nutfield, Bletchingley, Godstone and Oxted. The existing speed limit along this part of the A25 varies from 30mph within the villages to 40mph/50mph along the rural sections between the villages.

The A25 High Street, Bletchingley between The Bletchingley Arms and The Red Lion pubs is 30mph. The character of the centre of Bletchingley, including that outside the Village Store and Whyte Hart (please see image below) is such that there is a wide-open public highway, with little to no formal footway. Wide areas of highway which could be formally designated as footway with a formal kerb are mostly taken up with parked vehicles.

Image 1: High Street, Bletchingley – Whyte Hart on the left, Village Stores on the right

There is an existing informal crossing point outside the Post Office, approximately 70m west of the Village Stores and the Whyte Hart.

Image 2: High Street, Bletchingley – informal pedestrian crossing point

Following the receipt of the petition in May 2022 a Highways Engagement meeting was held on 27th June 2022 with one of the petitioners, County Councillor Chris Farr, the Road Safety Team, the Highways Engagement & Commissioning team, Tandridge District Council members and members of the Parish Council.

During this meeting concerns were raised regarding vehicle speeds on the A25 High Street through Bletchingley, as well as epicormic vegetation at the base of trees located alongside the A25 next to Grange Meadow playing field shielding pedestrians trying to cross the A25. County Councillor Chris Farr raised concerns regarding the epicormic grown with Tandridge District Council. The remaining concerns are being addressed by the County Council as follows:

An assessment of the existing road signs will be carried out before the end of this financial, for any signing improvements to be funded in the 2022/23 financial year.

Each year local County Councillors can nominate a highway scheme to be put forward for prioritisation for funding from a central “Integrated Transport Scheme” budget. There are challenging technical difficulties that would need to be overcome to be able to implement a zebra crossing in the centre of Bletchingley, and it is not clear that these could be overcome. This is because there aren’t any footways, there would be a need to remove parking spaces which could be opposed by affected residents and businesses, and there would be understandable objections to positioning a zebra crossing with Belisha beacons immediately adjacent to the war memorial. Consequently, the Local Elected Member has not nominated this for prioritisation this year.

This stretch of road was also discussed at the Tandridge Road Safety Working Group meeting on 12 October 2022. This is a meeting hosted by the County Council’s road safety engineering team every six months and includes police and County Council road safety specialists who are invited to identify and discuss collision hotspots throughout the District.

It was noted that the stretch has suffered several collisions leading to injury (including some leading to serious injury). These were scattered throughout the length involving different road users and manoeuvres, with no clear pattern. Consequently, speed surveys will be commissioned using pneumatic tubes to assess the speeds at various locations within the 30 mph stretch including the outskirts and centre of Bletchingley. This data will be used to inform upon the extent, locations and nature of the speeding problem and help inform upon the best solutions. This could include average speed cameras, spot speed cameras, or vehicle activated signs. Investment in such measures in future years will depend on the number of casualties and extent of the speeding problem compared to other sites in Surrey.

Kevin Deanus

Cabinet Member for Highways and Community Resilience