Agenda item

The Chair welcomed representatives of WalkSafe N10 Jenny Poirier,  Catherine Haigh, Melanie Grange and Ingrid Wassenaar. The Chair advised that the deputation had 5 minutes to present their deputation followed by questions from the Committee members.

Ms Poirier from the group WalkSafe N10 – advised the meeting that the Group were a local campaign made up of parents, residents, teachers and governors. More than 600 people had signed the online and paper petitions, and letters had been received in support from the governors of two local primary schools – Coldfall in Haringey and Coppetts Wood in Barnet, as well as from Hollickwood school.

Ms Poirier advised that WalkSafe N10 were calling on Barnet and Haringey councils to make the streets around these schools safer for children. The campaign was concerned about the number of near misses and accidents on these streets, and had  carried out a survey which provided evidence of these incidents.

Ms Poirier advised that in respect of the 20 mphissue the Campaign wanted Barnet and Haringey councils to introduce a 20 mph speed limit on the streets around Coldfall, Coppetts Wood and Hollickwood primary schools in North Muswell Hill. There were more than one thousand children attending these schools. Many currently walked to school on streets with cars doing speeds of 30 mph or more. Many had to cross roads where there were no pedestrian crossings or where the crossings that existed were inadequate. Ms Poirier commented that the campaign believed that 20 mph could largely be achieved by signage, but that some streets would need additional traffic calming measures, such as speed humps. It was felt that a proper survey done by both Councils would establish what needed to be done.

Concerning more pedestrian crossing on Colney Hatch Lane, Ms Poirier advised that this was a fast road with only one crossing, which was only a zebra, between St Peter le Poer and Alexandra Park Road. This was woefully inadequate, and every morning parents had to weave their children through the traffic, which was totally unsafe. In recent years there had been several serious injuries to pedestrians on Colney Hatch Lane and at least one fatality. Ms Poirier advised that many parents supported two new pedestrian crossings – one next to Greenham Road (Haringey) and one next to St Peter le Poer church (in Barnet).

Ms Poirier advised further that the Campaign wanted the Council to listen to the concerns about other road safety problems. The campaign carried out an  online survey, and people who answered listed their top priorities. Some of these were relatively quick and cheap to fix – such as an extended railing on the pavement near Coldfall school on Coppetts Road.

Ms Poirier handed the Chair a copy of the survey (a copy of which will be interleaved with the minutes), which expressed concerns.

Ms Poirier asked that the Area Committee :

1.    to agree to recommend that our points were looked at by Cabinet. It was  great that Haringey were consulting on a borough-wide 20 mph zone – but WalkSafe N10 would like discussion about how that might be enforced in the area, and when, request that Cabinet consider the other issues, which included safer crossing points on Colney Hatch Lane.

2.    to request an on-site meeting with Haringey traffic engineers so that they could be  walked through the area. Barnet Council had already done this. Haringey has not so far agreed – despite the Campaign’s  requests. The Campaign would like Haringey to commission a report to establish what could be done to make the streets safer.

3.    To ask for a commitment that Haringey would work with Barnet on these issues, and that as the area crosses both councils, it was important that there was a co-ordinated approach.

Ms Poirier advised that in respect of the survey carried out – this was completed by up to 40 people online and the results told the campaign the main concerns about road safety. Those who completed the survey were  teachers, parents and local residents.

The results were:

91% supported having a 20 mph zone in North Muswell Hill

91% wanted to have at least one more pedestrian crossing on Colney Hatch Lane

Other specific concerns raised eg the quality of the crossing on Coppetts Road

40% had been involved in an accident or a near miss in the area. Details of these incidents were horrifying.

Some of the comments show how terrified people were:

1.    “We live on Greenham Road, and the cars go extremely fast down our road. There are very few passing points, so if drivers see there is no oncoming traffic, they will race down the road to get to the other end before a car comes in the opposite direction. I believe that measures need to be taken to prevent speeding, and signs that flash up when cars are speeding are a very effective way of dealing with this problem.”

2.    “One out of every three cars fails to stop at the crossings on Colney Hatch Lane. Probably a similar number are going over 50 mph when it's quieter on the road (evenings and weekends).”

Ms Poirier concluded by advising of the petition organised earlier in 2013 which said:

We the undersigned petition the council to work with Barnet Council to introduce a 20 mile per hour speed limit on the streets around Coldfall primary school and Coppetts Wood primary school, and to create more pedestrian crossings on Colney Hatch Lane. We want our local streets to be safer for all pedestrians, especially our children when they are walking to and from school.

There were 107 persons signed the Haringey petition on line, 133 signed the Barnet petition online, 430 signed the paper petition (TOTAL 670).

The Chair thanked Ms Poirier for her succinct presentation and following points of clarification which were answered, asked that Mr Tony Kennedy – Transport Policy and Projects Manager LB Haringey to give a brief response to the points raised by the deputation.

Mr Kennedy advised that in respect of the requests and sentiments of the deputation, these would be considered at Cabinet on 18 June 2013 and addressed by the Cabinet Member for Environment – Councillor Canver in conjunction with the item on that agenda in respect of the proposed adoption of a 20mph borough-wide speed limit.  Mr Kennedy further commented that the proposals from the deputation would be likely to be taken into account during the consultation period that would happen across the Borough during the period July to September 2013 and the findings of the consultation would be further reported to a future meeting of the Area Committee. Mr Kennedy commented that there would be considerable publicity anticipated widely to all part of the Borough including schools, business, and all residents, with clear information on the proposals.  It was also intended to review all existing 20 mph zones, and look at speed prevention measures currently in operation.  It was intended that officers would work closely with interested groups including WalkSafe N10 to ensure that all views/requests were taken account of during the wider consultation exercise.

The Chair asked if there were any point/comments from Members.

Councillor Bloch questioned why the request of WalkSafe N10 had not been taken up and responded to by officers and he expressed his concern and dismay that such requests were being ignored.  He emphasised the need for good community engagement and that in his view this had certainly been lacking on LB Haringey’s part.

Mr Kennedy responded that the Council was keen to establish contact with groups who had expressed an interest and this would certainly be taken account of during the consultation process to be embarked upon. There was a substantial work programme and resources had been allocated based on need and priority for road traffic schemes.  Officers would be more than happy to engage with the public on these issues but stressed that it was an issue of priorities and funding availability.

Following further points raised Councillor Newton MOVED and it was :

RESOLVED

i.              To support the requests of the deputation and forward the WalkSafeN10 petition to the cabinet and request that 20mph with signage in Haringey roads around Coldfall and Coppetts Wood Primary schools should be given early consideration for implementation prior to and not dependent on a decision on a borough-wide 20mph speed limit, as this would make it safer for young people and encourage walking to and from local schools.

ii.            In addition to (i) above that LB Haringey should fully consider the other aims of WalkSafe N10 including a new pedestrian crossing on Colney Hatch Lane at the junction with Barnard Hill and Greenham Road.

N.B

During further discussion later in the Committee part of the proceedings where a summary of Forum issues was discussed it was agreed that in addition to the above resolution the Chair would also raise the following points at Cabinet on 18 June 2013:

·        That the consultation period be extended in terms of the Borough-wide consultation period beyond September 2013 for approx 1 month or longer to allow for a better response from local schools who would have only just retuned from Summer School holidays in early mid September 2013

·        That the issue of including A & B roads be clarified and explanation be given in the consultation