Convent Corner

"Convent Corner"

Local readers will know that Mar City have planning permission for 59 new homes on the old convent site behind Saint Martins school and indeed work has now started. The access arrangements for the new site are to the side of the school just off the road to Dadlington. This access arrangement creates many challenges because of the proximity to the school and also the proximity to the already dangerous T junction between Stoke Road / Hinckley Road - know locally at "Convent Corner". The access plans were approved at planning stage (I raised concerns to no avail). These plans included the provision of a new pedestrian crossing and a mini roundabout.

Convent Corner Proposal

The junction and crossing are less than ideal for many reasons:

• the poor visibility from the inside bend of the proposed pedestrian crossing towards Dadlington. Many school children cross here and speeding traffic is a known issue;
• the sweeping geometry and lack of deflection in the approaches to the mini roundabout which means cars car can travel through the junction at speed - a particular danger to two wheeled vehicles and users of the pedestrian crossing;
• the proximity of the crossing to the new site access and the mini roundabout.

In addition to safety aspects, the design treats the junction as a highway rather than as a residential street and an access to the village. A more imaginative and softer design could send messages to drivers that this is a "place", not a highway which evidence shows would introduce some natural calming.

Convent Corner with "tighter" geometry

Myself, the school and the Parish Council have been making representations to Mars City and Highways in an attempt to come up with an improved design which addresses the safety concerns and also also looks more pleasant. We have made suggestions to "tighten" the junction geometry (to slow cars) - see sketch to left.

We have also suggested the use of different textures / surfaces to create a streetscape more in keeping with a village. Look at before and after pictures of a street in Bath to understand what I mean.

Julian Road, Bath before and after

To me there is a lack of real design thought. It seems they have come up with the cheapest design possible and are not looking for the best solution.Whilst they are listening to us, we have not as yet achieved ANY changes.

The detailed design has now been submitted for Section 278 approval which is a legal agreement to undertake work on the highways. As part of the Section 278 approval an independent safety audit will be undertaken. This will assess the safety of the proposed design. We have made our safety concerns known to Highways and hope that we can achieve some safety improvements through this process.

Watch this space

Streets 4 All at the Annual Parish Meeting

Alan White presented his vision for Stoke Golding streets at the Annual Parish Meeting on 26th April 2012. Around 25 people listened to the presentation which was well received. There was a general consensus that there is a problem and good support for the vision. There was some discussion over what should and should not be done and some scepticism about the ability to get change implemented.
The notion of relocating the war memorial to the centre of the village was discussed. This would help create a sense of place and would be a visible demonstration that change is possible. This would help build momentum for the initiative.

Brian Ninness and Ruth Fisher kindly agreed to be involved - we need more people.

View the presentation (without the slideshow)

Stoke Golding Streets 4 All blog launched

DIY Streets

We are now starting to get some traction for our initiative to make the streets of Stoke Golding a better place to live. We are also accumulating quite a lot of information so time for a blog that we can use for discussion and to share information. Check out the reference page for a wealth of resources that can be used to support our campaign. Do add your comments and feedback or better still still why not join us?