20mph zones and Coney Hall

Once again I have written to the local council asking for 20mph zones in Coney Hall. I know it's not everyones cup of tea but trust me, you'll only get there 30 seconds later but all our quality of life will improve dramatically. See the letter below. And I'll post the response when I eventually here back:

Dear Sir / Madam,

A few years ago I wrote to the council proposing 20mph speed restrictions in the Coney Hall area. Since that time more local councils across the UK have decided to implement 20mph speed restrictions on their local roads. Additionally the EU Transport Committee has called for 20mph speed limits for residential streets and the revised DfT guidance has incorporated the changes on 20mph limits made in the 2011 signage review which made it cheaper and more flexible for traffic authorities to implement and mix 20mph limits and zones.

Camden council are now implementing 20mph across residential roads joining councils across the UK such as Portsmouth, Brighton & Hove, Islington, Warrington, Liverpool, Wirral, Wigan, Lancashire, Oxford, York, Cambridge, Waltham Forrest, Newcastle, Hackney, Bristol, Bishopbriggs, Middlesbrough, Bath & NE Somerset and Darlington.

In an area with a primary school, two nursery schools, a park and a high concentration of families with young kids, Coney Hall would seem to be a good candidate for 20mph restrictions. The returns on relatively minor street signage costs will see a lowering of noise and air pollution with a corresponding increase on the quality of life for all in the neighbourhood. Perhaps local schools could run a competition to create signs encouraging drivers to drive carefully in Coney Hall.

The argument that 20mph zones are not enforceable or are an additional drain on police time is a moot point as there is no rigorous enforcement of current 30/40 mph speeds in the area. The fact that these limits are broken many thousands a time a day is testament to that. Any speed restrictions will be self enforcing and part of a wider cultural change which means that in all likelihood a 20mph zone will see cars slowing down to the 30mph average (which is an improvement on 40mph in a 30mph zone).

The difference between 20mph and 30mph to a child walking or cycling to school can mean the difference between life and death.

I ask you once again to please consider carefully the proposal or perhaps put the proposal to the local community in the form of a public consultation.

Yours Sincerely

Why we love Coney Hall

I really like this excerpt from a local resident selling their house on a property website. "We moved to Chestnut Avenue primarily to be in the catchment area for the schools which are excellent. However, we soon discovered that Coney Hall has a wonderful ‘village life’. It’s a great community, situated near enough to town and transport links yet just on the edge of glorious countryside with a wealth of wonderful woodland walks. Horse riders from the local stables trot along the avenue while the 138 bus to Bromley town centre stops outside our door. Coney hall itself has a good selection of shops and excellent restaurants"

Addington Road crossing

Please take a look at the West Wickham South Residents Association facebook page for the response from the local council to a letter sent from a concerned resident about the dangers of crossing Addington Road.

Bye bye bike and kebab shop

Unsurprisingly, the Cafe next to the Thai restaurant looks to have closed. I was never sure whether it was a builders cafe (of which we already have the excellent Omega cafe) or a restaurant. I think the fact that it probably wanted to be a kebab shop meant it wasn't sure what it should be either. I'm not convinced a kebab shop would have worked either (and certainly wasn't desirable).

Shame to see the bike shop close down - looks like it's back to trips to Halfords or the excellent BigFoot bikes in Hayes.

Horses and 20mph

I've long been an advocate for 20mph zones especially in areas with lots of kids. For me Coney Hall is an example of an area that would benefit from reduced speeds.

Lets face it, most people coming into Coney Hall are going home or visiting someone. Would a 10mph reduction make that much of a difference to your journey? So you might get to where you are going 2 minutes later. But then if you did hit a kid or a cyclist at that speed the chances are they would survive. No brainer in my book.

Then it struck me that we are lucky enough to still have horses being ridden around our area but I've never seen any signs warning motorists to watch out for horse riders. Maybe that might be a small and cost effective way to help reduce speed.

I've written to the council before citing examples of other areas and councils adopting 20mph zones but Bromley don't yet seem receptive to the idea. So perhaps the horses can be the spur (no pun intended) for my new approach.

I figure it's only a matter of time before they make the change to 20mph. I just don't want us to be like Bounds Green where 20mph zones are enacted only after a girl is left brain damaged after being hit outside her school.

Meantime - please drive carefully in our wonderfull neighbourhood.

Kebab shop?

So is it a kebab shop or a restaurant? I've not tried it out yet but I'm curious to find out.

Unfortunately, Cafe Fiennes seems to have closed (despite promises they would be back). Maybe a greengrocers or a nice local coffee shop would be a nice replacement.

The new Indian Inaga(?) seems to be doing really well. I've heard some great local reviews. And the same can be said for Joan's Beauty Salon.

As for Focus going into administration, rumour is it will be a Wickes next...?

New road surface in Kingsway

Good to see the road re-surfacing in Coney Hall and Kingsway Parade but can't help but wonder how much that cost at a time when councils are making major cutbacks.

My understanding was that today's modern cars can withstand all but the worse potholes (at least that's what the adverts tell us). That being the case would the money have been better spent on keeping our lollipop men/women rather than helping our cars to go even faster and smoother on our suburban roads. My preference would have been to make sure our children are safe on the roads.