Allensmore Matters -an update for residents August 13th 2019
Road Safety and Footpath/Cycleway team
This small team led by Wade Bostock have had several meetings and have also had productive discussions with representatives of Balfour Beatty to look at the specific problem of safety on the A465, particularly in the vicinity of the village hall. The meetings with BB have led to us reducing somewhat the expectations of what is practical; for instance, though the idea of localised 20 mph limits in the centre of the three settlements may be an option to explore in the future, a blanket 30 mph across the whole parish and “village gates” on the A465 are unlikely to be effective.
Preliminary suggestions were put to the Parish Council on the 25th of July. The council have endorsed the work of the group so far and the following specific actions will be pursued by the council with Balfour Beatty:
- Provide signage at the village hall junction where none exists at the moment.
- Replace the Parking ½ mile sign just before the Village Hall turn with a new Parking ¼ mile sign between the village hall and the Saxon House junction. This should avoid the turn at the village hall being mistaken for the layby.
Another possibility being pursued is to provide signs on the A465 directing large delivery vehicles towards Allensmore Village to use only the northern lane at Webtree.
Reduced speed limit on the A465, in whole or in part, and localised double white lines and other signage on the roadway in the vicinity of the village hall are still being investigated.
Ward Councillor, Christy Bolderson and the police are aware of the progress made and meetings with Christy and Ian Connolly, the police Traffic Management Adviser, are being arranged.
The question of a footpath/cycleway along the A465 is still on our agenda for the future but road safety on the A465 needs to be priority for the moment.
Residents’ security etc is still to be explored. (A shed break in was reported in Cobhall Common just recently!). Our Police support officer (PCSO) has agreed to meet with residents in the Autumn.
Environmental group. Residents interested in improving our environment held a litter pick on Saturday 6th April, organised by Brigitte Ratcliffe and her small team. They plan to repeat the exercise next year. A possible spin off from that might well be a team looking at environmental issues more generally in the parish.
Improving facilities at St Andrews.
The Parochial Church Council met on 9th July and agreed to investigate the options for toilet facilities and a small kitchen at the church. Both of these could be combined in a project centred on the restoration of the Church Porch. There should be more to say on this at the Coffee Morning to be held in the Church this coming Saturday, 17th August 10 -12 noon.
Local History Group
This group has had two highly successful events in the village hall and is clearly now well established. (see latest update from Yvonne Chapman)
Tim Hancox (13/08/2019)