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KCC TO TACKLE SAFETY ON HAWKINGE ROADS

Following a meeting today (1 June) Kent County Council (KCC) have agreed to tackle safety o­n Hawkinge roads.

The meeting with Neil Campbell from KCC and members of the Hawkinge Community Safety Forum (HCSF) with the Hawkinge Partnership outlined the problems facing the village associated with the rapid increase in population and fragmented planning and infrastructure.

Forum Chairman Chris Ashman presented a video showing areas of the village and explained the problems which need to be urgently addressed.

He explained that during regular Safety Forum meetings many requests from visitors to see consistent planning put into place for areas of the expanded Hawkinge village have been heard. The areas are safety ‘black spots’ which we believe will get worse as the village develops.

Mr Ashman said: "It is not that responsible authorities have not tried to patch-up the problems but their failure to understand and respond to the overall picture has not changed to suit the requirements. The Forum wants the authorities take heed of their observations and use their influence and responsibilities to help our village become a more harmonious and safe place to work and live."

Explaining some of the background to KCC's Neil Campbell, Chris explained: "Hawkinge sits astride the A260 main trunk road between Folkestone and Canterbury, it is also due to be split by a proposed link road making it a 3 zone village. Through bad planning and deprivation the area has been granted millions of pounds by the government to improve services, which will be managed by the Hawkinge Neighbourhood Management Partnership.

"Safety in and around the village is the primary concern of the HCSF and we want rectification to existing problems followed up by future consideration for the safety of our residents.

"The present centre of the village and shops are o­n the A260 with insufficient parking for villagers and through traffic. The village school is directly opposite the shops and existing parking. In between, there are two bus stops opposite to each other, and  pedestrian crossing.

"Within the parking areas are access points which allow delivery vehicles to straddle two public footpaths causing concern and danger to pedestrians. If access is blocked by irresponsible parking, motorists double-park which adds to the congestion.

"Last year a child was knocked down and trapped under a reversing delivery vehicle. Several villagers have reported near misses whilst using the lower footpath, which is often obstructed by the vehicles.

"During school term, parents delivering and collecting their youngsters add to the chaos. They park and double park wherever they can, including bus stops, pavements and a side road which accesses the A260 at the same point, opposite the entrance to the Village Hall in which they also park. The access exit to the village car park is difficult, drivers leaving the village car park have their views of o­ncoming traffic obstructed by parked cars and vans in an official parking are which is opposite a junction to the side of the school.

"Just add to the mix, an arriving bus, a delivery to the Tesco store, envisage the misery of our village and the users of the A260 o­n their journey to and from work.

"The new centre development of the village is to be built o­n the so named 'employment land' o­n the opposite side of the proposed bypass. This has an entrance to a roundabout shared by a Nursery School and adjacent to the Churchill Primary School and semi-blind road crossing point.

"The footpath from the schools to the main village is o­n the wrong side of the road, pedestrians use the grass verge because they feel safer. This area is claimed to be traffic calmed but o­nly limited to 30mph, which can be and often is exceeded by even commercial vehicles.  There have been 5 known accidents that have written off motor vehicles and two other accidents causing damage to people.

"Some of our village school children have to cross a main trunk road and a roundabout at the end of a bypass, to attend school. When the extension of this access road and the next 500 houses takes place the forum wants to see a proper crossing installed at the existing roundabout before the development gets under way or at least the provision of a crossing patrol for school attendance.

"The forum is concerned about the future for this area and the future accidents just waiting to happen. Haven Drive has now become a main thoroughfare, rat-run or shortcut, for residents and outsiders due to congestion in Aerodrome Road and o­n the A260 in the old village centre.

"The single track Gibraltar Lane is also used in the same way, increasing the danger to walkers and horse riders who have a legitimate crossing o­n a double bend which is unmarked and already home to some serious accidents, o­ne requiring Air Ambulance. We would like to see warning signs placed in various positions around the village.

"It appears that road congestion and danger to our nursery and primary schoolchildren has become bottom of the priorities during development planning of our village.

"In an local poll 97% of residents called for a 20mph zone for all residential roads.

"The Forum understand the overall costs of this may need to be in future authority budgets but we call for immediate action now between Aerodrome Road and Spitfire Way by means of road bumps and zig zag lines outside of the school and Nursery crossing area.

"We would also like to see the overall future plans for the development in the existing village centre and the resolving of the traffic and parking problems."

After listening to all the points raised and shown the areas for himself, Neil Campbell has confirmed he will be speaking to the KCC departments involved and has agreed to work with the Safety Forum and The Hawkinge Partnership to help resolve the issues raised.