I just want to raise the issue of inconsiderate parents parking there car's in Station Road . Virtually everyday cars are parked all the way down Station road , across driveways ,blocking the level crossing and using the driveways to reverse in . It is a real pain when we need to get out of our driveway ( there has been occasions when we have to wait in our car in our driveway for the person blocking us in to move !! ) It is also a safety hazard to block the road right up against the level crossing . I have reported this issue to the school but they have not responded . With the new family houses being built I wonder where those parents will park there cars even when it is in walking distance !
Even if extra parking facilities were made elsewhere it would hardly make a dent in the volume of parked vehicles which seem to be increasing, month on month.
I dread to think when the residents from the new developments at the other side of the village start moving in and driving their children to school, what will it be like then? Total gridlock on the HGV route, I suppose. The problems also extend into the junction at the school and beyond down School Lane. No forward planning infrastructure on the road system in the village as been provided and residents will be paying the price.
The situation is not helped by the inconsiderate driving and parking either. Children should be encouraged to walk to school using footpaths, so long as a footpath has been provided that is.
Spooner Row is car-dependent due to the near absence of public transport in the village. Vehicle problems are just going to get worse with housing developments.
Spooner Row is car-dependent due to the near absence of public transport in the village. Vehicle problems are just going to get worse with housing developments.
You could also argue that your answer is too pessimistic
Whilst you are totally correct, more houses will equal more cars, and more congestion how many are we talking about here?
About 30 - 40 houses, so reasonably guessing at worst 80 more cars in total assuming 2 cars per house, but i would expect less than that on average.
So yes, I accept, if everyone from their new house suddenly got in both of their cars at exactly the same time to take their children to the school there would be chaos, but that isn't likely is it
What is more likely is many of the new houses will have children who will attend the school which will allocate places to local children who will more often than not walk. meaning school places will not be allocated to children who come from out of the village, who would have travelled by car.
So, you should see less cars driving children to school in the morning.
You are totally correct however in what you say that there will be additional traffic caused by the new houses, but as to how much congestion that creates is debatable.
I suppose you are also correct in saying that more cars will reduce the quality of life for existing residents, however, if you measure your quality of life with such precision then I worry for you well being because you are clearly on a knife-edge.
Don't worry, no one is on a knife-edge, just fed up with the traffic congestion and its problems. Infrastructural improvements are normally a part of new developments yet no road improvements have been scheduled for Spooner Row at all to cater for this.
I think the number of new houses scheduled for Spooner Row is over 50 (and growing) rather than your estimate of 30-40. So assuming your figures of 2 cars per house, that is over 100 extra cars, plus their visitors and delivery services. The Local Plan says the village can take only 10-15 new houses.
Many children are dropped off at the school gates by parents on their way to/from work so the problems caused by inconsiderate parking and congestion is very likely to get much worse.
You talk as if there is hardly a problem here, it looks very much like you do not live in the village but instead just posing that you do. Anyone would think there is an election coming up.
Using one of several available models for car movements from a single household with two cars assuming urban location and allowing for deliveries, dustcarts, postmen and trips out the best estimate is on average 7 vehicle movements per day for east Anglia, and I would suggest on account of our 'wonderful' public transport that could easily be 10 per day per household for Spooner row. So for 40 houses 400 extra (or 30= 300 ) vehicle movements per day and of course being in a one way street you could argue even more movements (pressure) on a single junction.
Pessimistic to me sounds incredibly optimistic. Please see the internet for calculation models and of course some variation, but it is very obvious that developers use the most desirable model for their calculations to justify extra houses and conveniently forget one way street and rubbish public transport.
Re the parking on Station Road, most of the children live in the village; it seems the norm now that the footpaths are not used for any other purpose than to park, at least partially on them. No~one in the village lives more than ! mile from the school, therefore the children should walk.
On Bunwell Road the footpaths are completely blocked every day by pub customers (totally against the Police advice & against the law) fortunately this is whilst the children are in school or already at home. ie lunch times & evenings. This is also an accident waiting to happen when any pedestrian has to walk in the road, adult or child.
For those complaining about people driving to school whilst living in the village...sometimes it is necessary to drive your child or children to school. In addition to this, have you walked through the village recently? The roads are frightening. If it's not a high volume of speeding cars, it's huge HGV lorries. The crossing at The Boars is dangerous to cross. This comes from a Mum that tries to walk her children to school as often as possible. There are some parents who have to drive their children to school everyday. If sufficient parking was available that was safe, parents would choose that over trying to get a child out of a car along the road to school.
I agree the roads are frightening, particularly along the HGV route of Station Road and at The Boars junction and the School Lane junction. It would take an enormous car park facility to deal with the volume of parked cars on Station Road at certain times of the day and then there's no guarantee it will be used. The HGV route needs to be re-designated to somewhere different. The village is not suitable to deal with this traffic problem especially with new houses in the process of being built to make matters worse. It is not just the school run that causes problems it is the increase in the amount of traffic in general, particularly lorries. You can see the tyre imprints on the footpath as the road is too narrow when two large lorries meet and they need to mount the kerb.
Classic near miss today . Cars parked all the way down Station Road as far as railway crossing ( school run time ) Car came out of School Lane right in front of my car . The person could not see down Station Road towards the level crossing because of all the parked cars so took a chance. Luckily I live in the village so was aware what might happen , someone else might not be. I wonder what would have happened if a child had run out between the cars . It will probably take an accident before something is done but I hope it doesn't !
I have said it before and I'll say it again, where on earth are these HGVs going or coming from ? The Banham lorries are a joke, the quickest way to the A11 north or south is straight through Attleborough from their site. The lorry park on Bunwell Road just outside Spooner Row doesn't even have planning permission for the site to be there, but the council never enforced its refusal. Newalls never had planning and have since gone into Administration, the list goes on.
Show me a location that is better serviced from the A11 via Spooner Row than the Attleborough turning ?
Classic near miss today . Cars parked all the way down Station Road as far as railway crossing ( school run time ) Car came out of School Lane right in front of my car . The person could not see down Station Road towards the level crossing because of all the parked cars so took a chance. Luckily I live in the village so was aware what might happen , someone else might not be. I wonder what would have happened if a child had run out between the cars . It will probably take an accident before something is done but I hope it doesn't !
Locals are concerned that when the new development in School Lane is built the junction will be so much worse - the council don't care and have approved it. The new developments opposite the same junction at 1 & 2 Cantley Villas, will make this junction into a crossroads. It is utter madness. There have been collisions and many near misses when cars pull out of School Lane with drivers unable to see any distance down Station Road and what is worse, children and parents on foot try and zig-zag their way through the traffic to get to and from the school gate.
HGV routes should be kept to the trunk routes and not directed through the centre of villages where they cause danger to others. There should be more accountability for those allowing this to happen.
It is quite depressing that about half of Station Road does not have a footpath. To walk up to Suton to use the nearest bus stop amongst fast moving lorries is totally unacceptable. This HGV route is getting too busy.
Ring Bob West at NCC Highways on 01603 819807 and tell him of your concerns. He is the new Highways Engineer for South Norfolk (not really new, just reassigned after a recent rejig).
And whilst you are talking to him, can you ask him why we still do not have a proper footpath on School Lane. And, then ask him why the drain repair scheme for Station Road (the one that has been marked out 3 times and over a year old) does not yet have a scheduled start date.
More people need to be asking questions of the people that are paid to get things done.
I agree, let's do something. It is because our parish council is remote at Wymondham Town that local issues do not get sorted out locally, like other parishes. We should be more like Morley, they don't have all the problems that we seem to get lumbered with. Little representation within the local village means we are powerless unless others elsewhere want to help us and decide in our favour which means we are usually met with indifference or ignored. It is only Julian Halls from Spooner Row who tries to do anything, but he is only one man. We need people from within the village who have the time and the right incentive to take the lead or we will always get what we have alway got and worse. What parish council administered by the villagers themselves, would allow an HGV route to run through its centre, only a few metres away from the primary school entrance? This is just one reason why we need local self-governance.
I have been battling the drainage issue for over 4 years . The highways dept are being more helpful this year with the change of personnel including Bob West and Rod Kelly ( his boss ) . Station road was due to have a major drainage overhaul last summer but Network rail , who caused the drainage problems in the first place when they did the work on the level crossing , have placed an embargo on all works within a radius ( not know !! ) of all railway installations . The highway Dept have been battling with them for over 2 years to get it lifted but it is like pushing water up a hill !! I have involved my MP George Freeman who has been supportive , I have chased on a weekly basis every contact I have etc etc . NWR are the one,s who are stopping all progress with this issue . I have had NWR out to visit the site on numerous occasions over the last 4 years , they talk a a lot then do nothing !! I battle on
Robert, I think you should provide the contact details under the "Community Governance Review" thread or start a new thread as this is about Station Road car parking and may well be overlooked.
Didn't our local parish councillor, Julian Halls look into becoming our own parish a few years back. Would he want to be involved this time round? Being a parish council is the only way to get things done instead of local people having to keep putting up with this treatment. Where's our district councillor in all of this?
__________________
Anonymous
Date:
RE: Inconsiderate parking in Station Road on school run 3LEAG
This is a late comment as I have been on holiday ; the house in the new development on Bunwell Road that has the garages directly on the the chicane will surely not be able to use the garages for anything other than storage. It surely cannot be legal to enter or leave the highway at a chicane, that would be far too dangerous. Are checks not carried out on plans any more? This gross error should have been corrected when the plans were first submitted.
__________________
Anonymous
Date:
RE: Inconsiderate parking in Station Road on school run
I also has this concern, however looking at the site plans this house concerned seems to share a drive further along with their neighbour, so coming past the neighbours house to reach theirs.. so I don't think they will have their own entrance which is opposite the chicane.
probably will be annoying for the neighbours having them drive directly under their front window..
I am involved in Governance review but back seat as have been away on holiday meeting to discuss progress wednesday night at 1900 in village hall and to be posted uner time for a change
