Dozens of people have signed a petition calling on Somerset County Council to axe controversial plans to introduce new waiting restrictions for motorists in the Burnham-On-Sea area.
Under the contentious plans, new parking and waiting restrictions will be introduced in Burnham-On-Sea’s Regent Street, Stoddens Road and Southern Lea Road.
And in Highbridge, there will be waiting restrictions in Burnham Road, Worston Road, Huntspill Road, King Street and Tyler Way.
A petition has been started by Berrow villagers amid calls for Somerset County Council to “halt their plans to enforce no waiting restrictions in Rugosa Drive and Rosetree Paddock” next to the village school.
.THE BERROW PETITION:
The petition calls: “These roads are used on a regular basis by parents collecting children from Berrow Primary School. Enforcing these changes would result in almost 200 children having to cross a busy main road where speeding and excessive traffic is a known issue and the cars that the families use would then be parked in the nearby estates.”
“These roads already have a large amount of parking at school times. These restrictions would move the congestion from Rosetree Paddock and Rugosa Drive to the other estates, where the roads are far harder to cross safely.”
“The council may face needing to compensate homeowners for a decrease in valuations caused by parking and traffic problems arising from these proposed changes. We urge the council to consider the impositions that this would cause to the families who attend Berrow Primary School, to the nearby homeowners and to drivers in general as the main road travels through to Brean. There will be an impact for all traffic on Berrow Road, Barton Road and Coast Road due to increased stops for children to cross safely. Please sign to ensure our children’s ongoing safety and wellbeing.”
A spokesman for Somerset County Council has this week defended the plans, telling Burnham-On-Sea.com: “There are various reasons behind the mixture of proposed changes to some on-street parking, stopping, waiting, loading and unloading restrictions in the Sedgemoor area.”
“Some of these proposals are the result of residents’ concerns over parking, while others are to deter motorists from parking for safety reasons, for example where they obscure visibility at junctions.”
“At this stage these are only proposals and anyone wishing to object can write to us at: Area Traffic Engineer, Sedgemoor Area Highways Office, Dunball Industrial Estate, Bridgwater, TA6 4TP stating their reasons before 26th May 2015.”
The petition can be accessed here and the full list of proposed changes from the council are online here.
Parents say the scheme in Berrow raises safety concerns. Elizabeth Price says online: “Children attend Berrow primary school – no consideration has been given to the safety of the children of Berrow primary school.”
Julia Gaunt adds: “It will make things more dangerous for the children. Their lives are at risk.”
Stuart Thornton says: “If this is enforced you are moving the problem to another area which could and will cause more trouble and possible accidents.”
Sally Williams adds: “This will increase congestion in other areas is the village. It will also have a cost implication as it will need to be enforced. This is a knee jerk reaction to a small minority of people living in these roads who are not considering the safety of the children.”
And Hilary Cox says: “My child attends Berrow, and although we walk to school every day, many children are from much further away. The main road is far too dangerous for 4 and 5 year olds to negotiate safely. Please put the safety of our children first.”
