Thursday 24 January 2013

Cllr Sue Clark replies

Cllr Sue Clark writes following the Flitt Leys blog post and Movers and Shakers:

"If you are going to criticise me, I'd appreciate it if you got your facts right.
  

I also attended Overview and Scrutiny last week. I spoke at the beginning of the meeting, before Roger (Baker) was there and maybe before you were there?  I spoke against the proposed use of Flit Leys Close as a school access.  I am happy to give you my speech verbatim, but I said :

"Principal issue is proposed access through Flit  Leys Close. Particularly would like to draw your attention to my concerns about this. Flit Leys is short narrow close serving about 25 houses problem is residents cars parked…and this is the proposed access to the new site of 135 houses , PCT and possible school. 

"May not be so bad unless a school is built - envisage chaos on this small entrance including access for double decker school bus. Ward members have talked on a number of occasions to developer/ officers/highways. 

"Seems alternative access not possible.  Highways say it is wide enough. If you agree this access is acceptable, which I don't think it is   would have to have a compromise managed solution….best of bad job…..any compromise should not disadvantage residents….wanted to come to meeting to stress my view that entrance would be unacceptable if school goes ahead on site…
PC want a single large play area…"



I'm not clear where this shows my support for the design brief? I don't have a vote on O&S, nor on Executive but I will be delivering again at that meeting a consistent message that Flit Leys Close is not a suitable access to a school.  I'm afraid a  poor decision was made in the past and I will continue to do what I can about it, but it is an allocated site, and it does have the support of Highways, and a  managed compromise may be all that can be achieved.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Flitt Leys access....managed access ?....how will the fire services cope if there's a fire at a house when the school run is on....worse still, a fire at the school when the bins are being collected.
Wasnt there an issue in Leighton Buzzard when the fire service couldnt get to the house due to resident parking ?....I suppose that was also judged as OK by highways.

Unknown said...

The complications don't bear thinking about. There was an early idea of an additional access via the Cross keys Land but that fell by the wayside. There is only one wayside now and that's Flitt Leys Close