Dedicated campaigner

The opponents of traffic calming, the High Street insurgents, the traffic talibans will not let up. On this occasion I am on the opposite side but I take my hat off to this complainant, recorded in the Beds Highways customer service bulletin (carefully anonymised I would add). They are determined...

I am writing a letter of complaint about the speed humps that run though Cranfield... Bedford rd/High street.  5 ramps I have to bump up and down 6 trips in+out of cranfield a day that's 30 up and downs to my car suspension daily.  I have just purchased a new car I have had this Car for 1 week +3 days and its now broke .... COIL SPRING !!  The car is a few yr old with 20k on the clock In normal cases this is far to soon for a coil spring to go.   I consider my self a careful driver especial with my new car and do take the ramps at slow speed, My car is not the only one my neighbour 2 doors away has a land rover who's suspension has gone on the right hand side of his vehicle (visibly).   These Ramps need to be assessed!  I have now fitted cctv in my car to record my every movement any more suspension problems with my new car I will take legal action.

Funding alert

OK, it's time for villagers to get involved and take an interest. There is possible real money here. And discussions and hoops to jump through.

The Central Beds Local Area Transport Plan (LATP) offers the village a chance to spend some real money on real improvements to our local facilities. This includes bus fixtures and fittings, cycle enhancements and traffic calming features. We have just plenty  of traffic calming so this might be lower down many people’s agenda. But there have been calls for a pedestrian crossing at the Coop Corner raised table.  

Nothing is ruled in or ruled out and an application requires a petition from parishioners showing support.

Any agreed project requires matched funding which means the Parish has to come up a proportion of the money - your money.  The information document “My Journey” states: “In essence the fund will help to provide small scale walking or cycling schemes, public transport information provision, signage or other traffic management measures.”  It does not include financial support of bus services, which are funded from Central Beds’s revenue budgets.

Joint bids with other parishes will be considered.

The  fund aims to provide contributions towards small-scale, local improvements, which would not otherwise be funded through the main LATP prioritisation process. Applications to a maximum of £50,000 per scheme are recommended.

“My Journey” feels like IKEA catalogue for local infrastructure improvements offering a range of estimated costs. You can have a flat-top speed table for a two-way road of average width for £8-10,000 (“Includes design and statutory consultation element”) or a zebra crossing without raised table for a two-way average width road for £25,000. No, we don’t have to self-assemble (You've completed your pedestrian crossing and you still gave a left over Belisha beacon). No thank you.

A variety of speed limit orders cost anything from £3,000 to £20,000 (ouch).

Cycle tracks range from £27.5 per square metre for an unsealed surface across countryside or £100 per square metre for a sealed surface. Buyers beware – it states this is a “guide price”.

Public transport improvements include bus stop flag and timetable, £500; bus shelter with raised kerb, flag, timetable and seating, £12,000 and real time information display £5,000 (assumes local power supply).

“My Journey” adds: “The proportion of funding for a particular scheme provided by the parish council will have a significant weighting in terms of the prioritisation of the bids, and CBC will need to receive clear evidence that funding will be forthcoming.”

The parish council will be considering this at its committee meetings on 1 May at Holywell School. Bids must be in by the end of July.

To read the full document visit Local Area Transport Funding in Central Beds

In and out of the Coop

Cllr Sue Clark has been working hard chasing Amey about de-snagging post  traffic calming. The areas of concern are  lorries churning up the grass at the Coop corner in Cranfield and the need for white 'in' and 'out' signs on the Coop car park entrance and exit. 

She also reminded Amey that they agreed to put bollards on the smaller areas of grass near Budgens to stop traffic running over them. 


The company has responded to the Parish Council as follows:


An order is with our lining contractor to install white ‘in’ and ‘out’ markings at the Coop and I will chase this up with them.
The installation of bollards and any additional ‘kerbing’ works will all need to go through our transportation and safety teams for approval before anything can be completed on site. I will be seeing these teams next week and will discuss the options with them and get back to you.

Looking back, looking ahead

Here's The Parish Matters highlights of the year plus my commentary.

You might have made different choices but you are welcome to scroll through the year's postings and comment on the big or lesser moments. I will be cranking up the blog again after the Christmas break and there will be regular Movers and Shakers bulletins for the less hard core internet users. LOL. You can contact me about content by emailing cranfield1985@gmail.com

Have a great 2013

January

It seems a long  time ago when we were going over the gritty detail of how Persimmon were conducting themselves on the fast-progressing Home Farm site. Now, of course, it is closed up and silent and Persimmon have been talking to Central Beds about a new  application 'Home Farm Lite' which parish council chair Delise Ball warned could create a 'housing island' cut off from the rest of the village. 

Minutes of the last Home Farm stakeholder meeting

Lodge Road Works: Almost all road works to Lodge Road now complete, some tidying up works to still be finished off.

Discussion with regard to the possibility of a “no left turn” on Lodge Road, concluded that the scheme makes it difficult to turn left, but not impossible especially for small vehicles. The road layout situation was judged better than previous situation.

Cllr  Bastable raised the issue of mud on the road. Martin Wright of Persimmon apologised on behalf of Persimmon, explained issues with regard to subcontractors not having regard of the road situation. Various discussions on the road situation followed, all agreed that the situation was improved after Persimmon hired a heavy duty road cleaning vehicle to clear back log of dirt.

Martin Wright outlined the method which will be used on site, from he believed today (28.11.11) which is a stoned area on the site for suitable drainage and a jet washer. Some concern was raised that this would not be a suitable solution, and that a purpose built wheel washer was required. There will also be once a day cleaning of the road, MW was not exactly sure of the timing of this, Cllr Matthews requested that the timing of the road cleaning by sent to members of the meeting once MW has confirmed. 

February
Central Beds let loose the dogs of verge trimming, exposing a mountain of roadside rubbish. It was truly disgusting and it took a while to get CBC out again to clear it all up. This is how it looked to the blog on 20 February

Rubbish rubbish everywhere

We complained about the state of the verges a few weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised to see full rubbish bags lined up on the Salford Road running  down from Cranfield last week. I had a call from Mr Chambers checking which roads needed done and I pointed out that in addition  to the Salford Road, College, Crawley and Moulsoe Roads were all in desperate need of attention.

It may be the cut these verges had a month ago exposed stuff but there is paper, plastic and carrier bags everywhere in the grass, among the hedges, spreading into some of the fields. Two days later however, the iron maiden and I were speeding along the traditional route and none of the verges had been touched. I rang CBC and asked 'when the contractors were coming  back'.  Well, of course they weren't. Thankfully we have been promised they are now and the remaining  litter strewn verges will get some attention - Tuesday I believe. 

March 

We have been trying to buy land from the Church of England to ensure that ultimately we have enough cemetery space and to consider allotment creation. In March I blogged:

Land purchase

The St Albans Diocesan Glebe Committee met at the start of February. We were informed that they were considering our request to buy land adjacent to the cemetery with a view to creating allotments and expanding the cemetery in the future. Since then we have been awaiting their reply.  Watch the blog.   

If you did watch the blog there was no joy. Thanks but no thanks. The established church's land holdings date back to the Conquest when Duke William, the Normandy mafioso boss grabbed England. He took half himself, divided a quarter between his 200 knights and gave the church a quarter.  We still feel the effects of that today.

April

It took a while but they got there in the end. The reopening of the village hall in its new shiny refurbishment was extremely welcome. It just missed its centenary but heck, who's counting?

Reopening of the village hall

Reopening ceremony for Cranfield Village Hall. Chair and treasurer Marjorie Cotton and Trevor Dimmock who did the bulk of the work are pictured. Marjorie Cotton writes in the latest Cranfield Express: "We were supported by the Parish Council and given grants by WREN and Central Beds for the essential repairs. The dry rot was eradicated and a damp proof course installed, thanks to a grant from 'Grassroots'. 

"It was a slower process raising the money for the roof and other work. We were given another grant from WREN. This was backed up by grants from the Lottery, the Wixam tree Trust, Bernard Sunley, The Steel Trust and a generous donation in memory of Jeanette Nash. We pressed on with sales and coffee mornings but it has been the sale of the caretaker’s house which has given us the rest of the money for the whole project, with little in hand. We are grateful to all those who gave us donations and supported our fundraising events."

May

Statement of the blinking obvious that young people are the future. But who does something about that? Well, Thriftvale Scout Group for a start. I spent an excellent evening with them attending their AGM and making fire with flints. Ray Mears watch out.

Parish councillor makes fire

I got into the spirit of Thriftvale Scouts (that includes beavers and cubs) open evening last night leaning how to use flint to make sparks and therefore fire. Talk about getting in touch with your paleolithic side?

However there is nothing stone age about the levels of organisation and commitment shown by the adult volunteers and leaders in the group and their open evening, awards ceremony and AGM was a fun-filled showpiece. If you want to get involved in helping to build the local branch of an organisation doing great work with young people email scout leader Phillip Stothart at pstothart@jarviscontracting.co.uk

June

The big one. The Diamond Jube and Cranfield's Party in the Park (followed in July by Cranfest) plus street parties in Harter Avenue, Townsend Close and Bourne End. The village shook its fist at the weather fates and went ahead and partied.

Picture of the Party

I think Claire Jenkins's photograph of the PITP fireworks at their height ought to be in for an award. Unlike a lot of the firework pics it captures the audience and the gazebo "village" giving a sense of scale and drama. Well done Claire, top snapper

July

Well Covanta has been given the go ahead  and the cynics said it would always happen. But a lot of people including Cllr Sue Clark put a lot of effort into explore the potential obstacles that could be placed in it way. In July I recorded:

Covanta consutation

Here are the dates for the Covanta consultation. 

Yes, that's 6 August for four weeks. The traditional British holiday period. Strange that. 

CB Cllr Sue Clark is working to get the date delayed or the period extended.

Alasdair FitzSimons-McKellar, PPC/COMAH regulatory officer

at the environment agency writes to parish councils:

"With regard to the message below, we will be going to the first stage of public consultation on the 6^th of August for a four week period. Copies of the applications will be held at the following places, Central Bedfordshire Council, Technology House, 239 Ampthill Road, Bedford, MK42 9BD and Environment Agency, The Public Register, Kingfisher House, Goldhay Way, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough PE2 5ZR. 

"We are aware that these locations won’t be convenient for many people so I can make copies of the application available on CD for people who request them of me, also we intend to make a copy available at Stewartby Library (if they are happy to have a copy held there).

 

"We will be holding a drop in session on the 15^th August at Stewartby village hall for people to come and talk to us about the permitting process and our regulation, details to follow."

August

After many fits and starts it started. Traffic calming has been in the pipeline for years  but due to hold ups at CBC and Amey worthy of Dickens's Circumlocution Office (Little Dorrit), the money wasn't there, somebody couldn't remember where the piggy bank was or we'd miss our 'slot'. It took Amey an age and in the early days the buses were all over the place but it got done in the end. 

Traffic calming - just the start

Traffic calming is here. If you wiggled your backside while you were at the end of Crane Way you might miss it. But there is one "raised table" at the Bedford Road-Crane Way junction - the first piece of the village TC scheme to be completed. More delights to come in the High Street, Mill Road and at Coop corner etc.

 

September

You can pass laws about some things but unless we get a better standard of behaviour and human decency nothing will change. So no, I'm not talking about kids outside late shops and drinking in the park. I'm talking a few middle England dog walkers spoiling the pleasure of both dog ownership and the open air  for the vast majority.

More dog problems

Dogs are still high on the agenda after a parishioner last week reported troubling dog activity in the rec. We understand that a dog attacked someone who will not go to the police. This is very worrying as it means there is a danger of a repeat incident. The parish council contacted CBC but we have been told the dog warden would not be able to become involved.

"Our dog warden team only deal with issues of dog barking, fouling and stray dogs, and are not equipped to deal with issues of dangerous dogs, and the dog warden would be unable to make a visit to the resident for this reason. It would be best for the resident to contact the police, especially if they may feel intimidated or harassed."

October

Henry Chilver who died during the summer was the first vice chancellor of Cranfield University. He was successful according to his own terms and some others, well regarded by government and personally unfathomable. Here is my account of the memorial event held to reflect on his life. Please note that since the post below was written the current vice chancellor has announced he is leaving Cranfield.

Henry Chilver

On behalf of the Parish Council I attended the Memorial Event at the University for the former VC Lord Chilver. I heard a lot about Henry in my early days in Cranfield from a friend on the parish council and my other half who both worked at the uni. Opinions will vary about his style and legacy. I was struck however that there was only one brief mention from several speakers of Cranfield village - a reference by Henry's son John to Mrs Goodfellow who provided daily help at Cayley Lodge. Nice that. Oh and to Mrs Hatton from North Crawley who also lent support.

But apart from that nothing. The result was, I believe, a long period of estrangement  between the village and the Campus made worse by the very (at the time) busy airfield. 

Cllr Alan Bastable worked hard to build some bridges and he was responsible for setting up the airfield (now the university) liaison group between CU and the parish council. That helped.

But we are indebted to the present Vice Chancellor Sir John O'Reilly  who has been very pro-active in relations with the PC. He has presented to the PC, and personally given us a guided tour of the campus.

I bet not many people in Cranfield know that in the early 1950s the then principal of the College of Aeronautics was actually on the Parish Council.

November

Home Farm - we'll almost finish as we started, with Persimmon. This was from the planning committee minutes in November. Please note that despite the record below there was no sign, as far as I was aware of any public consultation 'before Christmas'.

Before the meeting started, representatives from Persimmon Homes, Pegasus Group and Woods Hardwick presented a proposed new planning application which would enable the Home Farm Development to move forward.  It was explained that the land upon which the footpath linking the village to the new development is not owned, nor is there an option to buy, on the land belonging to Denison Instruments.

The alternative scheme, which puts the community facility facing onto Court Road, and the footpath taking a long diversion around the Denison land, was put to members for consideration.  It was noted that the development is reduced by 20%, as the houses intended for the Denison land are not included in the new application; it follows that if the application was approved, the planning gain would also be reduced by 20%.  Further the allocation per house has since been reduced, thus this would bring down the planning gain further.

The proposed timeline for the new application is:  Public consultation before Christmas; submission of application in the New Year.

December 

We are not Dortmund or Birmingham but Cranfield did get its own Christmas Market held to raise funds for the Church of England Lower School Academy. Giant Snowman proved a No-Showman when he took his pump and went home but this very popular event plus mini-ice rink was lively and well attended. 

Christmas Market

Cranfield's Christmas Market went off on Friday in Court Road  with a selection  of stalls, a mini-ice rink and singing from Sounds Familiar.  There was tea and coffee in the village hall. A giant snowman welcomed visitors but alas he ran out of puff and deflated gracefully. Revelry continued, nonetheless, and the weather was kind. The only ice worth mentioning was in the rink set up outside the Swan. All photos courtesy of David Moyes

 

Customer service

Flooding is showing up some issues with the recently installed  traffic calming. 

However the churned up grass verge is nothing to do with flooding. See below extracts from the most recent  CBC customer service bulletin with Amey's response in red.


Flooding during heavy rain at the newly installed "raised platforms" at the junction of Bedford road  and Crane way.

this is being assessed.

High Street opposite Marshall's hardware shop and in front of some cottages there was a flood over part of the road- this is not far from the new raised platform at the Merchant Lane junction.

thanks, this is being assessed.

Following traffic calming works, footpath was extended and grass verges implemeted as well. A lorry from Cranfield Haulage mounted the pavement, churned the newly laid verge dragged a lot of mud around, and drove off. This verge is now an eyesore, can this be inspected with a view to be re instated?

work is in hand to repair this.

Tales from Brummagem

I have written plenty about Amey and their lack of responsiveness. Hopefully by the time the traffic calming is all finished they will prove me and all the other critics wrong. I believe Cranfield's own great wall of China - the steeply rising table coming into the village from Marston Hill, has been adjusted. I'm also hoping that the build up of water around the centre of the village is a temporary feature. So members of the jury are still listening to the case and have still to retire to consider their verdict. Normally in a court of law you are not allowed to know about previous convictions. But here in the Court of Cranfield we want to know the whole story.

So, readers might appreciate this tale from one of the leafier parts of Birmingham concerning Amey no less. The lack of consultation is a familiar and worrying feature. 

You can read it on the Birmingham Post website. 

Traffic calming

A parishioner writes about the traffic calming:

After reading your article in the Cranfield Express I would like to give you some feedback regarding the roadworks at the junction of Crane Way and Bedford Road. 

I think that the traffic calming measures are a good thing but they have made a bit of a mess of the pedestrian crossing. When crossing Crane Way at the junction in the past, there were lowered kerb stones on both sides of the road. 

As part of the roadworks they have raised the kerb stone on one side! This means that anyone with a buggy or wheelchair has to either bump down onto the road or do a detour to get across. 

This change was totally unnecessary and I can only imagine it was a mistake as they seem to have catered for pedestrians/buggies/wheelchairs at all of the other junctions they have adapted.

Traffic calming village centre

I spoke to a parishioner yesterday worried about the work being done at the centre of the village. His concerns were as follows:

1. There is not enough room for the Remembrance Sunday Parade now that the footpath has been widened.
2. The areas designated for grassing will be muddy and unpleasant
3. Coming out of Court Road there is only one lane now leading to the blocking of cars during school drop off.
4. flooding


I appreciate the concerns but I think only the flooding is the critical issue and we are still waiting for a contact from Amey to come and look at it. There has been a build up of water opposite Marshalls and also near the Swan. 

On Remembrance Sunday there will have to be a bit of shuffling but I am sure the highway can accommodate the full parade. 

Hopefully the grass will eventually bed in. We need as much green as we can get.

The school drop-off and pickup is a relatively short time and there is massive congestion there anyway even at the best of times.

I will report to the parish council committees next Wed. You can either attend and give your views or email on cranfield1985@gmail.com

Traffic calming issues

Comment from a parishioner...
 

Have you seen the Cranfield’s newest swimming pool?   Its outside Daniels Estate Agents where the new traffic calming works have failed to put in a storm drain!  Do you have any contact details for anyone who might be able to rectify this situation before the workmen go away?

As posted before, the clerk is trying to get in touch with Amey to make sure we establish what is going on and what they are doing to rectify any problems 

Traffic calming work

A parishioner has written:

At last after such a long time traffic calming is appearing in the village.

I am not a supporter of Amey and the quality of their work, but already it can be seen that there are gaps where new tarmac has not been sealed to the road. 

How can Cranfield ensure that what is done is done well and properly? and what remedies would there be?

I will be forwarding these comments to the parish council at the meeting tomorrow night and enquiring from our CB councillors what the quality control process is. 

Any other views you can contact me in confidence at cranfield 1985@gmail.com 

A view from the centre of the village

Anonymous posted regarding the traffic calming:

 

They only worked on Saturday because they were behind schedule

Local businesses report slow trading because NO signs were erected at the Eastern side of the roadworks to indicate that said businesses were open as normal.

Don't think that any busses made it to the centre of the village during closure but can't be sure. [I'm pretty sure there were no MK buses at all - Trouble in Cranfield]

Wonder how many accidents have taken place at the High Street/Merchant Lane/Court Road junction in previous years? Can't remember any but a fellow local thinks she can remember one! Does this mean it is money well spent? [on this one I'd say just reducing speed levels improves quality of life]

Already it is proving difficult to turn left out of Court Road onto the High Street because it's now necessary to wait for those in front to turn right. In turn this makes it harder for school buses and large vehicles to turn into Court Road especially from the eastern side of the High Street. [sounds like a worry]

Some residents have expressed concern that there is limited visibility when coming out of Merchant Lane - difficult because of parked vehicles near the junction and, of course the buildings on either side!

Not sure what the agenda is here but a mini roundabout would have sufficed to slow traffic and I'd have willingly painted that for a tenner.

I'm sure we will all get used to it in time. Now we look forward to viewing the flowerbeds as shown on the original plan! And pigs might fly!

Men at work

I took a spin up the high Street to see the impact of our biggest traffic calming works so far. There are lots of road closed signs including 'diversion' pointing right at the top of Mill Road. Heavens to Betsey what is that all about?

Reverse gear etc and round through the uni, up Moulsoe Road past the windsock corner and the road closed signs once again reappear. Here Budgens proclaims accessibility so I headed down there. Which is where these pictures were taken from. I'm not the only one to note that the work was going on over last weekend which was very commendable and I assume has speeded up the works.

I have no idea how the Milton Keynes buses are getting through if at all. If anyone has any reports please email me at cranfield1985@gmail.com

Speeding and traffic calming

A parishioner concerned about speeding in Crawley Road writes:

Reference the email below dated 12^th April, do you have any update on the 20mph speeding issue? It is now four months since I received your reply.

I understand that the traffic calming scheme is in progress ( of which Crawley is one of the last to be done ) but looking at the raised platforms so far which have been completed or partial completed, the traffic is still speeding over these tables ( especially at the junction of Mill Road/Crane Way.)and then down Crawley Road.

Even when it is all completed the traffic will still speed down Crawley Road to the raised table ( which we still feel are situated in the wrong places )  and then out into the country side. The same situation will accrue coming the other way, over the two table, speed up and over the table/roundabout at Mill Road.

If this scheme works it will be a miracle, saying that it might work in the village but not down Crawley Road  - reason being, 1^st it was watered down and 2^nd Crawley Road is as we have said before a relief road taking traffic from the village.  

So how about the 20 mph scheme. You say you are concerned about the speeding in Court Road and the lower school, what about the children living in Crawley Road who need to cross this busy road to school or to the play area – does that not matter?

This will come up under reports at the parish council next week. Holywell at 8 pm Wed 3 Sept. If you have views about the traffic calming come along. Is it a hit, is it a miss,  could they have done better? Let us know or join  in the debate

Sign of the Times

It might look like the plan for a crop circle but its an advanced warning that one of Cranfield's trickiest junctions - Crane Way, Mill Road, Broad Green - is about to get its roundabout. More fun to come in the next few weeks.

Traffic calming - just the start

Traffic calming is here. If you wiggled your backside while you were at the end of Crane Way you might miss it. But there is one "raised table" at the Bedford Road-Crane Way junction - the first piece of the village TC scheme to be completed. More delights to come in the High Street, Mill Road and at Coop corner etc. Keep an eye on the schedule (further down the blog).