Category: Road Safety

Electric Bikes

27/8/2014

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

Action on Accidents

10/6/2014

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

Read the Signs

12/2/2014

Debbie snapped this whilst crossing the A419 last week. Perhaps the sign saying "unsuitable for vehicle over 7.5 tonnes" restricted the lorries progress.

Debbie said "not sure what suffered the most damage, the lorry or the sign, HGV drivers really must stop relying so much on Sat Nav. Even if the vehicle has made it onto Old Neighbourhood, it certainly wouldn't have made it up the rest of the road"

Bussage Clean Up

21/8/2013

Debbie with fellow Councillor Paul Carter, joined residents and Stroud District Neighbourhood Wardens is clearing the junction of Farriers Croft and Old Common in Bussage. The area was so over grown that it was causing problems for drivers exiting on to Old Common. After a couple of hours hard work, visibility was vastly improved and the road sign rediscovered

Road Safety Issues Solved Via twitter

6/8/2013

Despite being on holiday, Debbie was able to pick up some casework via Twitter. The Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership @GlosRoadSafety followed her on Twitter and the subsequent conversation has meant that issues such as speeding and the over grown bushes have been raised yet again. Hopefully this time they will be dealt with.

Debbie said " Twitter and other social media are really useful ways of speaking to those you represent and solving their problems, as this shows"

Reporting Back

14/6/2013

One of the jobs of a District Councillor is to make a monthly report to the Parish Council. Debbie is here with Chas Fellows at the June Meeting of the Parish Council. Debbie spoke about her work on the replacement of the bollards on Old Common, whilst Chas spoke about new plans for a cycle way from Chalford into Stroud.

Together with Liz Peters the third Conservative Councillor,they answered questions particularly about their donations to charity following the 8.3% pay rise that the ruling alliance granted themselves and that the Conservative Group are giving to charity.

"Low flying" Signpost

14/4/2013

Whilst out campaigning in Uplands on Friday, a gentleman complained about this signpost. He was concerned about the height of it and has seen at least two people walk into it.

Debbie went out on Friday evening to investigate.

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"

Discussing Road Safety with the Police and Crime Commissioner

14/3/2013

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

Need to improve Road Safety

9/3/2013

At the Parish Council meeting on the 7th March, large numbers of parishioners attending to make their views known about the problems of the junction of Old Neighbourhood and the A419. Max Strover, a Parish Councillor proposed that Chalford Parish Counicl write to Gloucestershire Council Highways and ask them to reinstate the traffic lights that were there after the latest accident at the junction when the road need to be closed for repairs. Debbie who was at the meeting agreed that the junction is a real problem, but that there are other issues as well, such as speeding along the A419, and lines of sight to the junction, specifically from the Cirencester direction.

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"

Debbie Young
Conservative Councillor