Agenda item

To receive notice of petitions presented by Members on behalf of local residents.

There were three Member petitions presented at Council. The Mayor invited Councillor Fitzpatrick to read out his petition. This was noted as stated in the agenda report: ‘‘In order to prevent the further misuse of the parking bays on the northern side of Gordon Crescent and to ensure their use by residents as is intended, we the affected residents, would like to recommend a gate be installed across the car park entrance to prohibit entry which would put us in the same position as residents on the southern side of Gordon Crescent who already have the benefit of a parking gate”. Councillor Allison Butler, Cabinet Member for Homes and Gateway Services, thanked Councillor Fitzpatrick for his petition and noted that she would look with officers at alleviating the problems.

The Mayor invited Councillor Perry to read out his petition. This was noted as stated in the agenda report: “Please introduce traffic calming measure into St Peter’s Street, South Croydon, in order to reduce speeding vehicles which are causing accidents and could lead to the loss of life”. Councillor Muhammad Ali, the Deputy Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport & Urban Regeneration, thanked the Councillor for his petition. However, it was noted that physical traffic calming was not always the best solution and could cause more issues in terms of noise and vibrations as well as restricting access by emergency vehicles. The Deputy Cabinet Member committed that officers would contact the police to request additional enforcement of existing restrictions be undertaken. It was reported that data had been requested on personal injuries resulting from traffic incidents in St Peter’s Street but none had been recorded. The Deputy Cabinet Member explained that officers would look at the road signage in St Peter’s Street to ensure this was sufficient to make motorists aware of the speed limit.

The Mayor invited Councillor Shafi Khan to read out his petition. This was noted as stated in the agenda report: “We, the residents of Oakhill Road, Norbury [SW16 5RG], call on Croydon Council to:

1.     implement a trial one way traffic scheme for Oakhill Road [southwards from Croindene Road to Stanford Road];

2.     erect two large 20 mph speed limit signs at the northern entrance of Oakhill Road; and

3.     create a narrowing of the exit of Oakhill Road into Stanford Road with a large ‘No entry’ sign and a 10 yard wide ‘Keep Clear’ boxed area painted onto the surface of Stanford Road next to the exit of Oakhill Road. This would allow cars exiting Oakhill Road to turn right when there is queuing traffic in Stanford Road towards the London Road.

These measures are to reduce congestion and bad tempered incidents which are now happening on a daily basis due to vehicles being unable to pass each other resulting from parking on both sides of the road. During week day rush hour periods over 1,200 vehicles use Oakhill Road with many of them speeding. These measures will help protect our elderly residents and the children attending Norbury Manor School. Oakhill Road had a temporary one way system during 2015 which was shown to greatly improve traffic flow”.

Councillor Muhammad Ali, the Deputy Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport & Urban Regeneration notified the Members of Council that this scheme would be included in a list of bids to Transport for London. However, the Deputy Cabinet Member expressed a note of caution and stated that such schemes do not always achieve the intended benefits and that there could be repercussions for surrounding streets.