On Saturday, Debbie took part in the Chalford Challenge, with the aim of showing how effective the new generation of electric bikes. The challenge was for Debbie, a holiday cyclist, Simon Pickering a committed cyclist to see if on an electric bike they could challenge Emma, an out and out athlete on a mountain bike up the hills of Stroud and Chalford. The two electric bikes were leant by Jacob who runs Ecycle in Stroud and Stonehouse www.ecycleuk.com.
Debbie said " The bikes were quite amazing, Simon and I managed to overtake the mountain bike within a 100 yards of starting up The Cornhill. This means that anyone can take on the challenges of cycling even in the hills and valleys of Stroud and Chalford" Despite finishing early, it proved how good the new generation of bicycles are and offer a viable alternative to a second car ![]() Following an accident at the junction of Burcombe Road and Middle Hill, Chas Fellows invited members of Glos Highways, Police, Parish Councillors, residents and fellow District Councillors Liz Peters and Debbie Young to join him to find a solution to this junction. Chas outlined this issues concerning signage, road markings and speed. The result of the pressure from the councillors was that road markings would be refreshed, signage would be cleared and additional signage and road markings would be used to help reduce speeds and danger at the crossroads. it is likely that this work will occur in a matter of weeks rather than months according to Glos Highways. New Parish Councillor Paul Lilly will look at presenting a paper to the next meeting about a speed campaign on Middle Hill
Debbie said " Twitter and other social media are really useful ways of speaking to those you represent and solving their problems, as this shows"
Debbie said "The sign post may be at regulation height, or it may be too low, either way the sharp edges would make it quite dangerous if some one walked into it. I will raise it with County Highways" On Thursday 14th March, Debbie had the opportunity to speak with Martin Surl the Police and Crime Commissioner and raised the issue of road safety and speeding on the A419. She highlighted the lack of police speed checks, and lack of police response to issues that the community raised with them. Martin said that he would take this issue back but also made some useful suggestions about how Chalford Parish Council could move things forward. This includes writing to Jon Hall the Fire Chief who now has statutory responsibility for road safety, and to encourage the school to use the Community Road Safety project. Debbie will write to the Parish Council and let them know, what else they can do.
You can view the meeting on the Stroud District Council website by following the link on the homepage
Debbie has campaigned for many years to improve safety at the junction particularly with children walking up to the school. The narrow pavement which is also obstructed is dangerous when children are going to and from Christchurch and numerous incidents have been report of parents being hit by wing mirrors. Debbie said " There are several issues here, some of which cannot be changed due to the physical constraints of the road and footpath, but some changes can be made. One of those is driver behaviiour and I have urged the school previously to take part in the Police campaign whereby school children admonish drivers for their poor behaviour, as this has been particularly effective in other areas. There are things that can be done and I am happy to take some of these issues forward" |
Categories
All
Archives
September 2019
|