Doddington and Newnham Traffic Calming Group
Minutes of a meeting held on Monday 25th
March 2002
Present: Janet Bell, Pauline Gaston, Justin
Horsfall-Turner, Mike Jarrett, Ken Seyler, Val Tolhurst and Ian Woodhouse.
Apologies: Sally Evans
1.0 Minutes of the previous meeting on 26th February 2002
The minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting. There were no 'matters arising' that were not covered elsewhere in the agenda.
2.0 Regular update on traffic calming in the newsletter, notice board and website
2.1 It was agreed that updates would be produced when there was something significant to report and would be done at least once every 3 months. The secretary would produce these updates. Action: P Gaston
3.0 White lining from Doddington to Lenham
3.1 The C258 from Doddington to Lenham has had the white lines painted. The lines have been painted on the sides of the road as requested by DTCG and this has made the road appear narrower. It is hoped that this will slow the traffic down.
4.0 Weight limit on the C258
4.1 A letter has been received from Swale Highways stating that the annual bid to the Highways authority includes a request for funding a weight restriction on the C258. A letter has now been sent to Maidstone Highways asking them to liase with Swale to ensure that the entire road is covered. Action: I Woodhouse
5.0 Environmental enhancements to the C258
5.1 Sally Evans' project has received funding for another year and Sally is seeking further funding for enhancements to the C258. Sally will be attending future meetings of the DTCG.
6.0 Swale Highways commitment to the project
6.1 I Woodhouse sent a letter to Swale Highways on 15/1/02 concerning outstanding highways jobs. The reply contained the following reference to traffic calming: 'Traffic calming was included in the 5 year scheme and is funded by priority i.e. those areas with high accident rates get priority funding. The low accident rate in Doddington means that funding is unlikely to be available within the next financial year and therefore resource cannot be allocated to the project until funding becomes available' This is not what Mr Haratbar promised at the public meeting last summer.
6.2 I Woodhouse has sent a further letter requesting confirmation o Swale's commitment to traffic calming for Doddington to Mr Haratbar on 26th February. No reply has been received to date.
6.3 I Woodhouse has also sent a letter to Mr Planner who is Mr Haratbar's manager, Mr Prescott and the Swale Borough Councillor who has the Highways portfolio asking for help in pursuing the matter further. A standard reply has been received from Mr Planner stating that the matter will be fully investigated.
6.4 The following actions were agreed if we have no further feedback from Swale Highways: Contact the following people for help: Chief Executive, Swale Highways Jean Newman at KCC Hugh Robertson, MP If we haven't heard from Mr Planner by the 5th April we will send a letter to Swale Highways requesting a time to go and meet them at their Headquarters and present our ideas to see whether they are feasible or not and to get some guidance. Action: I Woodhouse
6.5 I Woodhouse to collect the detailed information from the police checks that have been carried out in the village to back up our need for traffic calming. Action: I Woodhouse
6.6 I Woodhouse to ask for police training on the use of a speed camera. Action: I Woodhouse
7.0 Outline proposals for traffic calming in the village
7.1 3 picture boards have been prepared and were presented to the group: 'Doddington areas of concern' 'Proposed locations for traffic calming' 'Proposed traffic calming'
7.2 Other ideas that came up in the discussion:
i) ? able to have
'school' signs at the playing fields
ii) To reduce the possible noise
effects of the cobbles, the cobbles should be introduced at the 'pinch points'
so that traffic will be slower when passing over the cobbles.
iii) If
funding is limited we should prioritise the proposals e.g. gateways first.
7.3 The next step is to present these ideas to an engineer so that we can get feedback and then develop further according to the feedback. (see section 6.4)
8.0 Interim traffic calming measures
8.1 SLOW DOWN signs The letters have been completed and laminated. They will be attached to boards and displayed by the school and the playing fields for one week initially. Janet to speak to M&J to see if they have any off-cuts we could use for this. Action: J Bell Ian to speak to Graham Cuthbert for some apple posts Action: I Woodhouse Permission has been obtained from the police to display the sign, Ian to contact Richard Oldfield to confirm it is acceptable to him. Action: I Woodhouse
8.1 School involvement - Justin has spoken to Mrs Harris about the children designing some signs and has a meeting set with her next term. Action: J Horsfall- Turner
8.2 Pauline suggested some car stickers to remind people to slow down in villages. Ian to contact Andy to obtain costs for printing some up. Action: I Woodhouse
9.0 Funding update
9.1 Val has been unable to contact Mike Browning at Swale but will try calling KCC. Action: V Tolhurst
10.0 the next meeting will be held on Monday 29th April , 8pm at Sunnydale.