Q  Road Humps:  Resident of Cambridge Road:  The traffic, including boy racers, passes through the traffic lights at the top of the road very quickly, and it is a matter of time before a child is killed.  Raised this with Councillor Gilchrist about humps on the road, but he has been informed this is not a high priority area.  What do we have to go through to make something happen?

A  [Cllr Gilchrist]:  It is not only about road humps.  Another resident raised the issue of yellow lines on that road.  When the traffic lights were installed, I asked the Council to do a traffic survey, but I didn’t get far with that request.  A survey on the top road was carried out about three years ago and some residents had argued that it was in the wrong place.  A complaint was made to me about Police and vehicle users driving at speed along that road.  When I asked about yellow lines, I was advised against it.  The residents who don’t want yellow lines would oppose it because they and visitors would be prevented from parking outside their houses. 

On the matter of the road humps, I looked at Neville Road and Cambridge Road together.  Humps are part of the traffic scheme for Bromborough Village.  The issue of humps has been raised before and it probably needs an engineer to explain it better than I can.  The Council went off the idea of humps because they don’t want to divert traffic into other roads.  The other issue was that there were 180 roads which had put in petitions asking for humps and the engineers are looking at accidents to assess if humps would reduce accidents.

Our experience of humps in Dawpool Drive was that Greenfields and Dawpool have to be done together.  People complained that people raced between the humps.  There is mixed experience about humps, you join a process of survey, going through the Scrutiny Committee to decide whether it is a sufficiently serious road to get done.  In recent times the Council has only done a couple of roads because of the expense of erecting signs etc. 

Q  What about speed activated signs?  They seem to work and they are not as unsightly.

A  [Phil Miner].  The flashing signs can cause annoyance to houses nearby.  There is a trailer system.  We can look into the possibility of locating a trailer in that location in the future.

[Chair]  We need a policy on this in the sense that we need to include it in our area plan it seems that anything above 20 on these roads is dangerous, and the speed limit is 30.  We should be enforcing a 20, not a 30. We will aim to identify roads which are a priority

Q  Trees have been chopped own.  Does the Council have a policy to replace trees that they remove?

A  The Council has a policy of tree replacement, but not necessarily in the places that they have been removed from.  Some people prefer trees not to be replaced in certain locations because of leaf fall etc.

Q  Road safety.  Last year, I asked whether you were going to do anything about potholes on the A41.  Every night, heavy goods vehicles go round the bend, hit a pothole and bounce, and the noise in the houses is awful.  If certain people who are responsible for this road lived there, something would be done quicker.

Q  There was a serious accident some time ago and a 40 mph triggered sign was put up.  It would have been more sensible to put a sign from Birkenhead to Eastham, just before the bend.

A  [Cllr Mitchell]  Opposite where the computer shop is near the bend?

We are paying for more activated signs to be sited.  Why put on that side and not on the side that is more important?  That is part of the Highways Speed audit.  It would be a good idea to talk to the residents who have lived there for 30 years and have had to put up with these problems.  Residents who have had to fight to get the bend sorted out to stop accidents and people getting hurt have not even been asked.

[Cllr. Gilchrist]  Manhole covers.  There are a number of drains on New Chester Road that are not taking the water away and causing puddles.  There are a lot of things to do with drainage on the A41.

Activated signs.  I have been talking to an officer in traffic control looking for the best place to put that on the A41.  Looking at re-locating on the straight stretch somewhere on Plymyard Avenue.  The sign is not working properly.

Q  [M Hall]:  Are there any further developments in terms of Peel.  They are promoting their plans in other areas but are reluctant to discuss the plans for Eastham.  I consider that further pressure is needed.  Are there any further developments on that?

A  [Cllr. Gilchrist].  The answer is ‘no’.  They have made promises at public meetings round about Eastham,  but they seem to have problems of an unspecified nature.  They are keen to promote Birkenhead and Liverpool because they are seeking planning permission, but they are not seeking planning permission in Eastham at the moment.

Ellesmere Port welcomed the idea of removing the docks from Ellesmere Port to Eastham.

[Chair]:  I propose that we approach Peel Holdings as an Area Forum, and invite them to come and tell us what they are doing.

Q  Is there any possibility of opening up the estate, possibly by knocking down some garages on Bridle Road and improving access to Bridle Road to take the pressure off the back of Heygarth and Bridle Road, and allow more access into the estate?

 A  [Chair]  The Council don’t own the garages.  Is anyone available to answer the question?  [There was no response]

A  [Cllr. Mitchell] I suggest you fill in one of the forms at the back of the room, making all those points.

Q  What does the plan of schools entail?  I have been told there is a survey being done.  What does that involve?

A  [Cllr Mitchell]:Every school should have a plan to make sure the children and staff can get to school safely and easily.  It is called Safer Routes to Schools and is funded by the Government, through the Local Authority.  It is also about allowing children to cycle safely to school.  If there are any issues in relation to highways they need to be addressed to make safer and money is allocated to do that.  Every school should have a safety plan, every school in the country should have one by the end of next year according to the government.

Q  What do local residents have to do to get a copy of the plan?  We see a lot of parents doing the walking bus, and other people park outside the shops and bring the children to school but there are still problems.  Children are being encouraged to cycle and quite a lot would be cycling on the pavement and that causes a lot of problems. 

A  [Cllr Mitchell]:The children are trained on Bikeability to assist them to travel safely on the highways.   The school plan has to be approved by the Governing Body.  Minutes of meetings are available to anyone who wants to look at them, and they can be copied at a small charge.  We can approach local schools and ask if copies of their travel plan can be provided for you.

[Chair]  Useful to have copies at the next  Area Forum.

Minute Decision: Resolved:  The Area Co-ordinator to –

i.  invite Peel Holdings to send a representative to the next area forum meeting to discuss their plans for Eastham;

ii.  ask local schools to supply a copy of their travel plan  and to have copies available at the next area forum meeting.