From 5 pm to 6 pm on Tuesday 4th Oct residents of The Street, plus any visitors, will park in front of their homes.
This will according to Wokingham BC apparently believes, cause no problem. However if you are not WBC you will probably realise it will create a blockage of the A327.
You are more than welcome to visit with residents at that time some of whom will probably be in the white Hart who have been asked to serve tea etc.
Pasted below is a letter that all residents should have received that explains why this action is being taken
If you agree Wokingham BC should mitigate against the extra traffic in Eversley then please email to the Executive councillors who will make the decision.
Clearly the more who email the better. Do not tell them what to say as we want as varied a number of emails as people can think up. The same email with the same subject heading and just a different name sending it is rapidly ignored.
They are:
Leader of the Council David Lee david.lee@wokingham.gov.uk
Education Services & Deputy Leader Rob Stanton rob.stanton@wokingham.gov.uk
Community Development Matthew Deegan matthew.deegan@wokingham.gov.uk
Environment Gary Cowan gary.cowan@wokingham.gov.uk
External Services Liz Siggery liz.siggery@wokingham.gov.uk
Finance Anthony Pollock anthony.pollock@wokingham.gov.uk
Health & Wellbeing Julian Mcghee-Sumner julian.mcghee-sumner@wokingham.gov.uk
Internal Services UllaKarin Clark ullakarin.clark@wokingham.gov.uk
Highways & Planning Angus Ross angus.ross@wokingham.gov.uk
Transport Keith Baker keith.baker@wokingham.gov.uk
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The Street ‘Park–in’ Tuesday 4th October
In an effort to get Wokingham Borough Council to listen to Eversley’s genuine concerns over the potentially detrimental increase in traffic caused by the development of Arborfield Garrison, some local residents of the Street are planning to legally park their cars on the road, outside their homes for up to one hour on Tuesday 4th October, between 5 and 6 pm. Given the high numbers of vehicles on this section of road, it is likely to cause delays.
Wokingham Borough Council is planning to adopt their Planning Masterplans for four key sites in Wokingham, of which the Arborfield Garrison site is one. This will give developers the ‘green light’ to submit planning applications for around 3,500 new homes, a new district centre, three schools, a super market and much more, on the green fields and brownfield garrison site, with work starting as early as next year.
A development of this size would have a huge impact on traffic flowing south to the M3 and north to the M4, but despite this Wokingham Borough Council has failed to add any mitigations for the A327 as it flows south through the conservation area, known as the Street, Eversley. Hampshire County Council, Hart District Council and Eversley Parish Council have all submitted very strong letters of objection based on the lack of any sound transport modelling available at the time and for not complying with their own requirements, which were laid out in the core strategy approved by the Inspector of Planning.
The A327 is a busy stretch of road, which at peak times has a car passing every 3 seconds – based on figures from a traffic survey carried out by Eversley Parish Council in July 2011, the road is within 15% of its capacity. Conservative figures suggest the Arborfield development could increase traffic by 24%, tipping the road over into gridlock.
Police, local emergency services and schools will be informed.
So why are we taking this action now….
Parking just a few cars out on The Street, will highlight that:
• The road should not be designated as an A road, which is indicated on European sat navs as being a suitable HGV route.
• The road could not cope with such a significant increase in traffic before it reaches capacity and becomes gridlocked.
• Just trying to get out of your drive in the morning or turn out from Warbrook Lane could be impossible.
By taking this action now, we hope to highlight our plight in the press and media and to apply pressure to Wokingham Borough Council before they hold their Extraordinary Special Executive meeting on Wednesday 05th October, where they plan to adopt their latest plans.
We also apologise that this communication is coming to you at such short notice, but recent letters to Wokingham by Hampshire County Council and Eversley Parish Council restating their OBJECTIONS, have been ignored, leaving us with no choice but to try and apply media pressure. Also an hour’s inconvenience is worth it now, if it could make a difference and stop a lifetime of traffic problems on our doorstep.
How you can help…
We are asking local residents and friends, who might be visiting between 5 -6 pm on Tuesday 4th October, to park legally on The Street. In theory the traffic should back up quite quickly. We do not want to cause a long-term problem for the traffic so would ask people to dissipate at 6 pm.
For those who would like to show your support, we will be meeting in the White Hart, The Street at 5 pm.
If you have any questions, suggestions or offers of help please contact us on eversleymatters@hotmail.com. Eversley Matters is working alongside Eversley Parish Council and with Hampshire County Councillor, David Simpson.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
Eversley Matters
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