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Traffic Petition - KCC Cabinet Member visits Bredgar

By Brian Clarke Bredgar Parish Council

Thursday, 23 February 2017

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Bredgar Parish Council Contributor

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Mr Matthew Balfour the KCC Cabinet Member for Environment & Transport has made good on his promise to visit Bredgar and experience first hand our problems with speeding traffic. A site meeting took place on Wednesday 22nd February at 8.30am in the centre of the village. In addition to Mr Balflour the meeting was attended by Alan Watson the Kent Police Speedwatch coordinator, PS Jason Hedges Kent Police Community Safety Unit, KCC Councillor Mike Baldock, Newington Parish Councillor Richard Palmer, the Bredgar Speed-watchers, several Bredgar residents who live near trouble spots, all Bredgar Parish Councillors and the Clerk.

The meeting started at the Farm Shop, where Parish Council chair Penny Twaites outlined the main concerns of residents, described the geography of the local area and how that generates considerable through traffic at peak times. Then Keith Bateman from our speed-watch team gave examples of the volumes and speeds of traffic they have recorded late in 2016. Now that the days are getting lighter it will soon be safe for them to resume their activities.

The whole group then proceeded up The Street, along to the school in Bexon Lane and then all the way up to Swanton Street (just past the junction with Blind Mary’s Lane). This all occurred during a busy time on the roads as pupils arrived at the school and people were making their way to work. In The Street the narrow road and poor sight lines were seen and discussed. At the school, Head Teacher Mrs Madeleine Gower described how the speed of traffic impacts the staff and pupils. On the long walk up Swanton Street a typical range of vehicles came past, with a large HGV causing delays as it needed the full width of the road to pass through above The Sun. Then residents of Swanton Street drove Mr Balfour down through the 40 MPH double bend by their properties to show him the limited visibility and reaction time to oncoming traffic.

Finally all parties contributed to a discussion about what had been seen and how they can help. Mr Balfour agreed that he fully understands our concerns, he advised that delivering solutions can be difficult due to the limited options available in our setting, but he reaffirmed his commitment to have staff from his Kent Highways team investigate and propose actions to address them. The Police representatives present contributed to the discussion and will likely be performing some enforcement activities in the near future.

The Parish Council would like to thank Mr Balfour for his visit and thorough investigation. We look forward to hearing from Kent Highways in due course.

More pictures can be found in our gallery here.

Contact Information

Brian Clarke

  • 07753332229

Find Bredgar Parish Council

Bredgar Parish Council Friendly Cottage, Primrose Lane, Bredgar, Bredgar, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 8EB

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