Brecknock School – Proposed road safety improvements, Cliff Villas

Overview

The Council is seeking for your views on a number of proposed changes at Cliff Villas in order to improve safety for school children attending Brecknock School. Brecknock School has two entrances along Cliff Villas and the pedestrian footway between the school’s main entrance and the nursery entrance is narrow, particularly where the three trees are located. At the start and end of the school day, parents/carers and school children are forced to walk on the road where these trees are present.  This is a concern as they are likely to walk on the road when a motor vehicle might be approaching or may not have space to move around the trees if the road space is occupied by a parked vehicle.

Council officers have met with Brecknock School to discuss the possibility of a number of changes to help address these concerns. To create a safer environment, we are therefore proposing the following changes which are also shown on the plan.

Note: Each number below corresponds to a numbered proposal on the plan.

Proposed changes

Proposal 1:    Make Cliff Villas one way from Camden Park Road to Cliff Road but allow cyclists to travel along it in both directions; signage will be provided. The proposed one way will fall in line with the existing one way system around Camden Park Road, Cliff Road, and section of York Way.

Proposal 2:    Widen the footway outside the nursery entrance to the school on Cliff Villas. This will provide space on both sides of the trees for parents/carers and children to walk through this section especially during the busy period at the start and end of the school day. This will improve safety as they won’t have to step out onto the road. This proposal will result in the loss of 7 permit holder parking spaces.

Proposal 3: A parking occupancy survey was undertaken and the results showed that less than 70% of the parking capacity is being used. Therefore, only one parking space of the seven spaces lost in proposal 2 will be relocated. The double yellow lines located near the main entrance to the school will be converted into one permit holder parking space (Gain of 1 parking space).

Proposal 4: Shorten the widened footway opposite the main entrance to the school on Cliff Villas to provide secure cycle parking. The Council believes the introduction of secure cycle parking facilities would improve cycle parking safety and increase journeys made by bike which would help reduce congestion on Camden’s streets. There are two types of bikehangars that are available to Camden, details of both are provided:

Cyclehoop bikehangar:

-       2 units are implemented in one car parking space (5m) providing 12 secure cycle parking spaces.

-       The annual subscription fee for one cycle parking space is £60.

Asgard bikehangar:

-       3 units are implemented in one car parking space (5m)  providing 9 secure cycle parking spaces

-       The annual subscription fee for one cycle parking space is £55

In addition to the subscription, a one off deposit of £25 is applied for the key to allow access to the bikehangar.

In order to qualify for a space within the above bikehangars residents’ must meet the following criteria:

• Live on the street (or adjacent one) where the bike parking is proposed
• Do not have a Controlled Parking Zone Permit, (or would be prepared to give theirs up)
• Do not have suitable outside space to store a bike.

You can choose the type of hangar you want installed on your street be selecting the appropriate option in the attached questionnaire, images of both types of hangars have been included below, and currently Camden has only installed the cyclehoop bikehangar.

The Council will take responsibility to install the preferred option, but the management of the unit will be undertaken by the manufacturer who will manage and maintain the bike hangar on a long term basis. We will provide registration information along with the outcome of the consultation.

Why your views matter

The Council will be pleased to hear your views on the proposals we are consulting upon as well as any alternative suggestions or objections you may have to any aspect of the scheme. 

Please Note: If you are responding on behalf of an organisation only ONE reply will be accepted. You must give your full postal address when responding to this consultation if you want us to consider your views. An equality and diversity form has been included that is voluntary for you to complete and send to us  via email or using the above free post address along with your consultation response. Any information you provide will help us in making an informed decision on the proposals. The information provided may be used in our reports; however, your personal details will remain confidential. You can download a copy of the form by clicking HERE.

While it will not be possible to reply to you individually, all comments will be taken into account. At the end of this consultation exercise, officers’ will consider the views made as part of the consultation and prepare a report with recommendations. This report will be presented to the Director of Regeneration and Planning who will make a decision whether or not to proceed with the scheme proposals. Under the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, your response is available for public inspection; however your personal details will remain confidential. Please only write to us about the consultation issue.