After months of having to walk in the road with children because of unkempt hedging, now we have the added hazard of traffic lights at the new 'diggings'. The footpath is not safe to be used as a route to the school; was no thought given for the present residents when this new build was started? Do we really need an accident to occur before these matters are tidied up? I hope commonsense and responsibility will prevail.
Totally agree , the road and pathway are covered with mud and stone's making walking hazardous . I wonder what it be like when road and pathway is wet or covered in frost !!
Has anyone used Bunwell Road in the last couple of days? If a farmer left that amount of mud/soil on the carriageway he would soon be admonished! It is a disgrace that it has not been cleaned up and made safe. I tried 'phoning the number on the hoarding but I was told to get in touch with the Site Manager, (he doesn't answer his phone, what a surprise!) I haven't seen anyone walking, maybe pedestrians are now using Queens Street as a safer option.
I have just come along Bunwell Road and it seemed a lot cleaner around the building site. I hope this isn't just a 'one off', as the site looks likely to be there a long time. Now, how do we get a safe footpath? Any suggestions............?
I phoned the council regarding getting the hedge trimmed. They said as it appears the hedge belongs to the big house as the roots are on their side it is the householders responsibility to cut their hedge. They will formally ask him, if he does nothing they will look into enforcement action (big words, I am sure it wont come to that, but they have to give an official line don't they!)
Mud on the road is a major hazard, I know of at least two incidents there a person has been killed in a car accident involving mud on the road, one was the mother of a close friend ( but in these cases these were by a farmer, not a construction co)
Farmers (and other vehicle operatives such as construction companies) are legally obliged to clear up after themselves and are potentially liable for a range of offences. While there is a range of powers available to the police and highways department the primary powers fall under the Highways Act 1980:
Section 148 of the Highways Act 1980 makes it an offence to deposit mud etc. on the highway that would interrupt other users of the highway.
Section 149 of the Highways Act 1980 gives the highways authority the power to clean the road and recover its expenses from the person causing the obstruction.
Section 161 Highways Act 1980 “If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, deposits anything whatsoever on a highway in consequence of which a user of the highway is injured or endangered, that person is guilty of an offence”. Contravention of sections 148 and 162 can lead to a Level 3 fine of £1000 in the magistrate’s court. Furthermore if mud on the road leads to personal injury, damage to property, or any loss or inconvenience then the person responsible may be liable for damages. A conviction in the criminal court may be relied on in a claim for damages.
I hope the council do get a speedy response from the householder as I saw a couple with a small child in a buggy having to walk up the road this afternoon (Saturday). This really is becoming a dangerous situation.
Why doesn't someone "knock" and ask the householder concerned if they could trim the hedge or pop a note through the letterbox. Maybe they don't realise there is a problem. Most folks are very reasonable and would far rather be approached by a neighbour than receive an "official" council letter.
The householder has had at least one letter via Postman. Possibly more in the letterbox on gate. This is not a new problem, the hedge has been allowed to cover the footpath to obtain 'privacy at any cost'.This is a rural village where people used to greet people, maybe by the garden gate;( that is not possible when the garden gate is 6' high and solid!) It is seldom seen now, that neighbours chat, many don't know their neighbour's names. Such a shame in our village. Yes, I'm old fashioned!!
Somewhat ironic then that they would get the greatest privacy by trimming the hedge back as it would promote the growth of side shoots which is what would thicken the hedge. Basic 101 of gardening and pruning.
Yes, in reply to 'thank you Mr &Mrs House owner', the hedge was lightly trimmed, maybe last week; not enough was cut off to make the footpath able to be used by anyone with a pushchair and the thorny cuttings were not cleared. It needs serious cutting back before previously mentioned accident occurs. I am not the only person who dislikes walking in the road when there should be a safe footpath nearby.
Bunwell rd is an accident waiting to happen.Pedestrians can be within 2 ft of moving vehicles. Lorries mount the pathway rather slow down to enable oncoming traffic to pass, vehicles park on the pathway forcing pedestrians into the road ,& many vehicles exceed the speed limit. With many new houses being built along this road is now the time to get the authorities to do something about improving pedestrian safety. How do we go about it?
In the 1990's, a long, tedious at times, campaign was waged to get a footpath from the level crossing to the corner opposite the 3 Boars; and also from the junction of Hill Road onto Bunwell Road to the 3 Boars so that the school children had a safe route to get either to the school bus pick-up point, or to the school in the village.(There was a pathway from the school side of the level crossing). All the effort seems to have been wasted due to a lack of consideration by a few people, who clearly don't walk around in the village. Not all walkers are nimble enough to jump out of the way of lorries, cars, vans etc, which rush through, splashing up mud & gravel. I don't see what else can be done other than keeping the footpath clear of bushes, branches and cars, ( I understand that vehicles parking on footpaths is a matter for the Police to sort out) It does seem that general tidying up would go a long way towards solving the problem.
This is where a village like ours loses out as we do not have a local parish council to look after the villages interests. Our parish (town) council is too remote to be bothered by our rural issues such as impassible footpaths. Villages that have their own parish councils deal with these types of small local issues efficiently and small issues do have a fundamental effect on local people. All but one of our parish councillors are NOT from the village, so why would the others care or be bothered to keep things running nicely (our one local man tries to help, but he is just one person). All they say is that Spooner Row people moan a lot and this has even been said on this website. Perhaps if Spooner Row people were given even the slightest bit of respect then people wouldn't feel so aggrieved when they feel their needs are not being met by things as basic as trying to walk down a pedestrian pathway safely.
Once again I today witnessed a lady with a small child in buggy and a youngster walking beside her, having to walk in the road on Bunwell Road because the footpath is unuseable. How much longer will this householder be allowed to keep the hedge so wide that the the footpath can't be used. This is an appalling act of selfishness!
Yesterday evening we walked along the footpath on Bunwell Rd, firstly on the road, footpath impassable until opposite the building site. We thought all was easy to get to the 3 Boars after that, WRONG !! at least 7 cars were parked on the footpath making it too chancy to walk along the road, so we gave up & headed home again. When will we get a Police presence to 'ticket' these illegally parked vehicles? PS. There were several spaces 'free' on pub carpark.
Re my last tirade about unable to use the footpath because of parked cars; yes, we saw empty space on pub carpark when we drove to Attlebro', a town more 'wheelchair friendly' than our own village; and had a meal in a pub there.
As we drove along the Bunwell rd today it, the footpath,a was still impassable, even at lunchtime there was a light blue Nissan parked on the footpath. There is plenty of space for 2 cars or even 2 lorries to pass each other at that end of the road, sometimes someone has to give way, but, (at the moment), Spooner Row is still a village and we have no lay-by, or dual carrigeway to speed things up. Footpaths for pedestrians and toleration when you have to wait a few seconds.
