Road Stewards' meeting 23 October 2010
Despite the wet weather, 50 or so of our Road Stewards attended our Autumn meeting.
We had two speakers. Roger Lawson had spoken to us at our last meeting about the need to do something to alleviate the congestion on Chislehurst High Street and Willow Grove. The congestion creates pollution, irate drivers and higher levels of risk-taking by motorists and pedestrians alike. This time Roger ran a video (which can be viewed on the internet at www.fitroads.com), which shows how turning off the traffic lights in Portishead, Somerset, had impressive results there in reducing all these problems. He referred to another example in Ealing where lights had been turned off, which had similar results. Roger proposed that we should start a dialogue with Bromley Council and Transport for London to see if we could undertake a trial here by turning off the lights at the Willow Grove junction, and the crossing lights on the High Street. He handed out a note which you can read here.
A number of comments were made by Road Stewards. On balance it was felt appropriate to approach Bromley with our ideas, but a number of important factors needed to be taken into account. The visibility at the junction with Willow Grove is not good; the roads are narrow; the High Street is a major bus route, and recognised as the main route through the lights; the road layout, especially with Park Road, creates additional problems, and of course the safety of pedestrians especially disabled, would be important. Roger said he would take all these into account in developing the next steps, and would keep Road Stewards informed.
Yvonne Auld then spoke to us about her researches into the impact of the Great War on Chislehurst. She explained how she had started the work, and the variety of sources available locally (especially at Bromley Local Studies Library) and online, which enabled her to research the many ways in which the War changed Chislehurst. Eventually she found that she was able to identify all but one of the names on the War Memorials in Chislehurst, including photographs. She has put this information into a book that is currently being printed and will be available before the end of the year. Yvonne will be speaking at the Evening Social at the Golf Club on 11 November. All tickets for the evening have now been sold.
Finally, the Chairman hosted an open discussion. Matters raised included
- The continuing delays in finishing the bore hole at Rush Pond,
- The timing of the work on the railway bridge on Chislehurst Road,
- Deteriorating grass verges, and the difficulty of getting Bromley Council to act,
- Need for more planning information on our website,
- An update on the Safer Neighbourhood Police in Chislehurst, where we now have a new sergeant.
- A warning about burglars posing as leaflet distributers.
All points will be followed up, and where action can be taken, it will be.
The meeting finished at 12.15. Thanks to everyone who attended.
Watch this site for details of our next meeting, May 2011.