18 July 2011 - What Next?
So what happens next? Despite some dirty tricks against this campaign and further misinformation (e.g. the cost of hump removal), we believe that Ickleford has finally been asked the proper question that it should have been asked nearly 3 years ago. Ensuring true opinion was recorded was essential and proved that the Parish Poll was absolutely necessary.
As far as our involvement with the entire village is concerned, this campaign is now over. However, there are some “loose ends to tie up”.
This campaign has highlighted a number of areas in which the village has been poorly served by our Parish Council, some Councillors and other organisations who work for the community. There are questions of impropriety and misinformation which need to be answered and these questions, together with supporting evidence, will be passed on by our group to the appropriate authorities for investigation.
Our campaign has only ever existed to represent your views and to ensure Ickleford received a fair consultation. It has never been personal for us and has only ever been about fairness and correct information. I hope you feel that we have achieved those principles on your behalf.
Thank you to everyone who has supported this campaign (a mixture of people for and against the humps). This support has kept us going despite the unpleasantness of some members of the parish council (and some people close to them) who demonstrated contempt for the campaign and made personal attacks on its organisers.
We very much hope that those appointed to serve us have learned valuable lessons from their handling of this issue. We hope that future consultations will be conducted properly and accurately and the views of the entire community will be fully respected by them even if they are contrary to their own.
The www.mostsimply.com website will continue to run to report any related news and also to record past activity. It may also serve as a useful resource for other similar groups throughout the Country.
15 July 2011 - Parish Poll Result
On Friday 15 July 2011, there was a Parish Poll in Ickleford on the question:
“Provided there is a pedestrian crossing outside the school, do you want all road humps (16 road cushions and 3 flat-top humps) in Ickleford removed (YES/NO)?”
555 (38%) of Ickleford residents voted.
274 (49.5%) voted YES to remove all the humps.
280 (50.5%) voted NO to not remove all the humps.
1 spoiled paper.
The Electoral Team advised us that the voter turnout was exceptionally high for a Parish Poll, the last one they organised had just a 15% turnout. The small difference of SIX VOTES is clear evidence that every vote does count and can make a difference.
We are delighted with this result. Combined with the 450 resident signatures against road humps (620 in total) and the significant support for the new candidates in the recent 5th May election results, this Parish Poll result clearly shows that there never was the “overwhelming majority” in support of the road humps in Ickleford (which some Councillors had stated was endorsed by their re-election).
This result also clearly shows that road humps are not the solution for half of the village and therefore does not work for the community. Ironically, I have recently been informed that Hertfordshire Highways are being told to remove road humps as the budget is not in place for their long-term maintenance. So probably over time they will disappear from Ickleford anyway.
20 June 2011 - Residents finally get asked if they want road humps removed
Ickleford was never asked if they wanted road humps. They were just asked if they wanted an entire scheme (YES or NO) on a road by road basis. The questionnaire was “sweetened” with a school crossing (that most people appear to want), plus other improvements such as lighting, bollards, road surfaces, and painting. We believe for something that has such a profund affect on quality of life it was absolutely essential that residents were asked specifically if they wanted road humps.
Ickleford Parish Council finally admitted that it “could have done things better” and on two seperate occassions we have asked them to do a ballot asking Ickleford whether they wanted the road humps. We offered to help with the printing costs, and also with distribution and collection, but this was rejected and therefore residents had no choice but to demand a Parish Poll.
After over a years work by many people in the village, residents will finally be asked the question they should have been asked years ago. There will be a Parish Poll on Friday 15 July 2011 between 4pm and 9pm where all Ickleford residents on the Electoral register will be able to vote in private on the following question:
“Provided there is a pedestrian crossing outside the school, do you want all road humps (16 road cushions and 3 flat-top humps) removed (YES/NO)?”
This Poll is being independently run by NHDC Electoral Services. You will not receive a notification in the post and there is no proxy and no postal voting. Simply turn up at the Ickleford Village Hall on Friday 15 July between 4pm and 9pm, tell them your name, and then vote. If you have any questions about the Poll itself then call Electoral Services on (01462) 47 43 05.
8 June 2011 - Residents call for Poll to remove humps
A Parish Meeting has been called by residents for Monday 20 June at 8:30pm at the Ickleford Village Hall (see Notice of Parish Meeting). The agenda of this meeting is to request a referendum on the following question:
“Provided there is a safe crossing outside the school, do you want all road humps (16 road cushions and 3 flat-top humps) in Ickleford removed (YES/NO)?’
If you support this request then it is essential that you attend this meeting as Ickleford residents will be able to vote at the meeting whether they want this poll to go ahead. If you live outside Ickleford then you are still very welcome to attend but can only observe.
The Parish Council have consistently maintained that those against the road humps are a small disaffected minority and therefore the IPC have nothing to fear from this simple straightforward question.
The www.mostsimply.com campaign has only ever existed to provide a voice to those who feel they have not been allowed to express their exact opinion on the traffic-calming scheme due to the IPC consultation that restricted possible responses. The IPC admitted it “could have done things better” and therefore it is only right that this oversight is corrected asap and the whole village is finally given the opportunity to have their say on this specific topic.
A year has passed and opinions have changed and therefore no-one actually knows the outcome this Poll would bring. Therefore whatever the result, I do not see why it should cause embarrassment to either the IPC or us.
If this poll proceeds fairly and as requested, and the result demonstrates little support for the removal of the road humps then this campaign will stop. This Poll is essential to allow the village to move forward in a positive way with a newly elected Parish Council.
I hope that all Ickleford Parish Councillors will do all they can to ensure that this request is accepted and proceeds unhindered.
May 2011 - IPC asked again to Poll village concerning Road Humps
At the May Parish Council Meeting, following the release of the Traffic Calming review, Suzanne Roynon asked again for the IPC to Poll the village to see how many wanted the road humps. This campaign group offered to help towards the costs of printing and also with the distribution and collection. This request appeared to not be taken seriously as we have received no reply, and therefore consider it a refusal.
Since the Ickleford Parish Council had refused both of our requests to give the village a fair consultation on Road Humps, we had no choice but to seriously considered the only remaining and more expensive option of a Parish Poll.
18 May 2011 - Traffic Calming review admits no safety improvements on the most dangerous road in Ickleford
A review of the Traffic Calming has finally been published by Hertfordshire Highways and makes for sickening reading. £222,918 (43% over the original budget of £155,000) was spent on this scheme allocated specifically for safety improvements in the village. However by far the most dangerous road through Ickleford is Bedford Road which has around 30,000 vehicles travelling at over 35mph every week and the highest injury accident rate. This scheme has done nothing noteable to reduce speed on this road.
The scheme included the installation of 16 road cushions and 3 flat-top humps along Turnpike Lane and Arlesey Road. 620 people (including 450 living in Ickleford and 170 from surrounding areas) signed a petition against the road humps which was presented to and accepted by the Hertfordshire Highways Joint Member Panel in April 2010 before the scheme was completed.
In trying to disguise their complete failure on Bedford Road, Hertfordshire Highways says in the report “Motorist generally conforms to a speed based on the environment”. This is interesting - do a different class of motorists drive on Bedford Road than those on other road in Ickleford? In December 2007 a speed survey on Arlesey Road conducted by Hertfordshire Highways showed that the average speed towards the outskirts of the village was around 30mph but moments later when the same motorists got near the school in the centre of the village the average speed was around 27mph. This proves that the majority of motorists adjust their speed appropriately for the conditions and yet this survey was key in justifying the need for all the road humps.
The report also says “The provision of a new raised Zebra crossing in the village has significantly improved accessibility in the village, especially for children and parents travelling to and from Ickleford Primary School and the village green”. No pedestrian survey has been done since the scheme was implemented so how can Hertfordshire Highways justify that comment?
Visit Ickleford at the beginning or end of school time and you will see many pedestrians (including parents and children) crossing Arlesey road without using the crossing. In fact we are already aware of 2 rear shunts at the crossing - luckily no one was crossing at the time. However many have reported that the crossing is hard to see with the zebra stripes being raised and not at the normal road surface level, and with oddly placed beacons which are sometimes obscured by foliage.
A speed survey was also done on Arlesey Road in March 2010 just before all the road humps went in and this showed the average speed was just 27mph. A speed survey on Arlesey Road in October 2010 (after the humps were installed) revealed that traffic volumes had increased by 7,642 extra vehicles per week (up by 15%) which would probably have reduced traffic speeds anyway.
A speed survey was done on Turnpike Lane after the road humps were installed but the speed was only measured right next to the base of a flat-top hump. Not surprisingly this shows an average speed of 22mph - but this does not give a genuine view of speed throughout the entire length of the road. Many have observed long and untypical traffic queues since the scheme and this was before other local roads were closed.
Since the scheme, people have reported witnessing dangerous driving, damage to vehicles, noise and air pollution, untypical traffic queuing, that the school crossing is difficult to see, near misses, rear shunts, smashed wing mirrors, damaged road cushions which have not been repaired promptly, in addition to physical pain and discomfort when travelling through the village below the speed limit. There are already bolts sticking out of some of the road cushions and despite being reported for sometime they have still not been repaired.
Road humps on Bedford Road, Letchworth are in an appalling state, raised sections, raised bolts, large gaps between sections, split and crushed rubber sections, partial repairs with completely different materials, and yet Hertfordshire Highways insist they are safe! These road humps are only a few years older than those in Ickleford and yet clearly have deteriorated very quickly. There is no specific budget allocated for maintaining road humps and since clearly they cannot be maintained properly they must be removed.
The ‘Before & After Review of Traffic-Calming’ report produced by Hertfordshire Highways can be seen here.
20 April 2010 - Formal Request for IPC to re-ballot village
450 Ickleford residents have signed the petition against the Ickleford road humps (at least 30% of the village). Less than 60% of the village responded to the heavily weighted IPC Traffic Proposals survey in 2008 (see page 2 of www.icklefordpc.com/Ickleford_Traffic_consultation_October2008.pdf and mostsimply.com/trafficProposalsSurvey2008.pdf). Despite this the IPC continually state that they have a “clear mandate” and that they are acting on behalf of the “silent majority” in endorsing this scheme in the village.
Throughout this whole campaign, everything we have said we have backed up with evidence, including supporting documents, independent reports, and survey data. In contrast, the IPC appear to have adopted a “we know best” attitude, with little supporting evidence, which has resulted in residents increasingly losing confidence in the whole process. In fact in an email dated 8 March 2010 18:16 to the campaign, IPC Cllr Colin Thurstance states “Why don‘t you believe what you have been told, by both IPC and Highways?”.
For this reason we believe that the time has come for a re-ballot of the whole village with the simple question of “Do you want road humps in Ickleford?”. We have therefore formally asked the IPC for both parties to work together to prepare the survey. We have offered to pay half of the costs of printing and are happy to do all the distribution. In order to protect both parties the results will be independently checked.
Since this request, a resident has offered to pay the other half of the printing costs, and another resident has offered to do all the printing for free. Therefore since the IPC will now incur no costs, and will not be responsible for distribution, there is no reasonable reason why the village could not be re-balloted. The IPC declined to ballot the village on this issue.
19 April 2010 - Speech & Petition Presented to Hertfordshire Highways NHDC Joint Member Panel
Suzanne Roynon did the campaign proud at the meeting of the Hertfordshire Highways NHDC Joint Member Panel. A speech devised by our fellow organiser, Mike Palmer, was adapted and delivered by Suzanne at the last minute as Mike was, due to some Icelandic environmental changes, unfortunately left trapped next to a swimming pool in California! Suzanne delivered an excellent speech under difficult circumstances - she was first to speak and there were microphone problems. Read the speech.
Her speech was immediately followed by Parish Cllr Miles Maxwell who tried to defend the actions of the IPC. We had not been made aware that the IPC would also be speaking, and Cllr Colin Thurstance and Cllr Chairman Philip Crowe were also in attendance. Despite their admission in their 15 March 2010 letter to the village that “There are many parts of this long and complex process which we think could have been handled more effectively” (see www.icklefordpc.com/html/ipc_letter_mar10.html), Miles neglected to mention this to the HJMP.
Cllr Miles Maxwell described this campaign as an aggressive pressure group and accussed us of knocking on doors through Ickleford to gain signatures. We wish to correct this. Our brief campaign consisted initially of a simple one page website petition form, paper petitions in the local shops, and a few posters. We expected to get just a few signatures, but in just a few weeks we quickly had over 300 signatures from Ickleford residents. Due to the strength of feeling (see petition comments) and funding from residents (unexpectedly offered - never asked for) we decided to publish our first newsletter which was delivered to the whole village. This newsletter resulted in a further 150 signatures.
We have NEVER knocked on any doors in order to gain signatures for this petition. A member of the public who also spoke at the meeting on a completely unrelated matter and had no connection with us, approached us afterwards saying that he felt the IPC came across as “bullying”.
Cllr Miles Maxwell also made the sweeping and clearly incorrect assumption that everyone else in the village who had not signed the petition was in favour of Ickleford road humps and that the IPC were acting on behalf of the silent majority. In just a few weeks and without the credibility of the IPC, 450 Ickleford residents have signed the petition against Ickleford road humps, a staggering 30% of the village. The IPC 2008 traffic proposals survey got less than a 60% response rate in total.
If the IPC are so confident that they act on behalf of the majority and have a “clear mandate” then would they agree for a quick 2 week re-ballot of the whole village on the simple question of “Do you want road humps in Ickleford”? We would be happy to pay half of the cost of printing the ballot paper (our newsletter cost £154) and we would be happy to deliver it. In order to protect both parties, we would want the results to be independently checked.
Our petition against Ickleford Road Humps of 620 people, including 450 Ickleford residents, was presented and has been accepted by the HJMP.
30 March 2010 - Road Humps Going In
6 pairs of road hump cushions will be installed on Arlesey Road on 12 April, 2 flat-top humps will be installed on Turnpike Lane on 12 May, and 2 pairs of road hump cushions will be installed on Turnpike Lane on 27 May. See email from Justin Murphy.
26 March 2010 - See Adrian's Speech at the AGM of the IPC
At the AGM Cllr Miles Maxwell described the Association of British Drivers (www.abd.org.uk) as an "aggressive pressure group" even though they were founded in 1992 and still going strong, are a self-funding non-profit voluntary organisation, and are a member of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (www.pacts.org.uk). PACTS are a body of experts whose sole aim is to improve transport safety with regular meetings in the House of Commons. The ABD would not have been granted membership if their aims were not reasonably in line with the charter for PACTS.
The ABD committee consists of some 20 active members, both male and female, whose average age is 55, an ex-police traffic officer with 30 years experience, a retired highways engineer, as well as scientists and accountants. Many of them are members of the Institute of Advance Motorists (www.iam.org.uk). We put this allegation to the ABD who responded with "If our response was as offbeat as your council member appears to suggest, I think we would not be taken seriously by the press and media who normally approach us for comment before they speak to the AA or RAC".
21 March 2010 - See our reply to IPC letter sent to some Ickleford residents
20 March 2010 - See our first newsletter - recently distributed to all Ickleford residents
19 March 2010 - See the true facts about speeding in Ickleford and where the actual genuine safety problems are
17 March 2010 - See Hertfordshire Highways letter from Justin Murphy and our response
14 March 2010 - See details of all accidents causing injuries in Ickleford in last 30 years
12 March 2010 - Notes of IPC Public Open Questions session 4 March 2010
10 March 2010 - Road Painting
IPC Cllr Colin Thurstance now tells us that the Major Safety Project budget is NOT paying for road painting. His email says “Just established that an order was raised Dec 2009 for road markings throughout the village, where needed, to be re-painted. This is out of the Highways Maintenance Budget”. I am very pleased about this and hope that Bedford Road will be done very soon as the stop lines, and 30mph speed limit sign on the road surfaces have completely gone and makes that roundabout even more dangerous.
8 March 2010 - Roundabout in Centre of Ickleford Painted
I am very pleased to report that the roundabout in the centre of Ickleford has now been painted and the roundabout on the Bedford Road/Turnpike Lane is also due to be painted. IPC Cllr Colin Thurstance informs me that this was part of this current batch of safety improvements in the village although apparently not scheduled on the design documents on their website. However we are waiting to find out why this money which was from a Capital Expenditure Budget intended for safety improvements is being used for regular maintenance.
I guess if they are digging up half the road as part of major road works then they would need to do all necessary repainting. However the current road works have not gone anywhere near either of the two Ickleford roundabouts and clearly the lines were long gone even before the work started. So I fail to see why this has not been paid for out of budget intended for regular maintenance.
8 March 2010 - Formal letters written to IPC and Highways requesting hump installation delay
We encourage you to do the same - see How you can stop humps for more details
*** Accident on Arlesey Road 6 March 2010 approx 2pm *** Looks bad but no injuries
Spoke to the 2 drivers concerned. A lady coming out of Witter Avenue was driving an unfamiliar car and mistakenly pressed clutch rather than brake. As a result her car went into the side of a car driving out of the village along Arlesey Road. He took action to divert and managed to narrowly miss a wall on the other side of the road. Usual safety features of both cars kicked in - crumple zones and air bags so no-one hurt :)