Agenda item

Petition referred to the committee for consideration - Submission of petition for a maximum speed of 20mph on roads in south & west Harrogate

Considered – Mark Codman, Democratic Services, introduced the petition stating that it had been referred to the Committee under the Council’s Petitions Scheme due to the number of signatories being above 500.  He outlined the options that the committee had under the Petitions Scheme, including the following:

(a) to take the action requested by the petition;

(b) not to take the action requested for reasons put forward in the debate;

(c) to commission further investigation into the matter, for example by a relevant committee; or

(d) where the issue is one on which the council executive are required to make the final decision, the council will decide whether to make recommendations to inform that decision.

Allan McVeigh (Head of Network Strategy, Highways and Transportation) provided an update to the technical information in the report and stated that the outputs from 20 mph review were now due to be reported to the Executive in July and not June.

The Chair invited Hazel Peacock to introduce the petition.

Hazel Peacock thanked the chair and the committee and introduced Dr Vicki Evans. She explained that they were petitioners for the agenda item from the Oatlands Road Safety and Active Travel Campaign and were attending to hear the discussion about the petition which was signed by 924 people.

The proposal calls for a maximum speed of 20 miles an hour in roads in South and West Harrogate across Oatlands, parts of Pannal, the Stray, Hookstone and St George's. This is urgently needed for the safety health and well-being of children and the wider community. Over 4 000 children walk, Cycle, travel by car and bus to schools in the area and a further five thousand attend the schools in the Pannal Ash area.

The proposal complements and is dovetailed with the initiative by Pannal Ash Streets with the aim to deliver better road safety and facilitate active travel for a total of 9 000 children and the community. The Committee have just heard of the devastating effects of the Collision on the pavement on Yew Tree Lane in February and been made aware of the Collision outside Oatland's Junior School also on the pavement in January.

These awful events coupled with overwhelming evidence of the benefits of 20 mile an hour limits demonstrate why change is urgently needed, the higher the speed a vehicle travels the greater likelihood of a serious injury or death if there is a crash. A crash at 30 miles per hour involves a lot more energy and destructive potential than a crash at 20 miles per hour. This is further evidenced by transport for London data showing that people hit by a vehicle at 20 miles an hour are around five times less likely to be killed than at 30 miles an hour. The changes to maximum speed limits of 20 miles per hour in other rural and urban areas of Yorkshire and the UK show positive effects; for example in Edinburgh road traffic casualties were reduced by 40 percent. We would also like to add that the Royal College of Paediatrician’s policy of 2020 advocates that local authorities should commit to an expansion of 20 mile per hour zones within built up and urban areas. More recently the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety stated in May that 20 miles per hour is now generally accepted as the safe speed for streets used by people walking, cycling or wheeling?

In October last year the Area Constituency Committee resolved for the Executive at North Yorkshire to be advised of a wish for a 20 mile per hour speed limit to be piloted throughout towns and villages in the constituency area where a need has been identified. We believe that considered together all the evidence, recent collisions and the support for our petition, that of Pannal Ash and Stray streets and the support locally from the road and safety School Group which we established shows a need for this to be implemented with urgent effect. We appreciate all the support we have had from stakeholders including Councillors Marsh, Mann and Schofield and the continued engagement with the officers two of which are here today Melissa Burnham and Allen McVeigh. We urge you to make a positive recommendation to the Executive so they may make a favourable decision at the meeting on the 20th of June which I understood is when Councillor Keane Duncan will report on the review of 20 miles per hour retrictions. This will help save lives, reduce collisions and bring about lasting improvements to Road Safety, the environment, active travel and public health for our communities, thank you.

Councillor John Mann commented that it was very important that we reduce collisions, improve safety and reduce air pollution in South and West Harrogate including the Oatlands Neighbourhood where there were three schools. It was important to protect children and young people who were on their way to school and other activities. Earlier this year Councillor Mann had requested that North Yorkshire Councils Highways team and the Executive Member for Highways use the Council’s policy and existing funds to introduce 20mph restrictions on Hoxton Road, Green Lane, Yewtree Lane and Beachwood Grove, all of which have schools on them. Councillor Mann stated that he was aware that the Executive Member Keane Duncan was preparing a report on this to be considered by the Executive on the 4 July. Councillor Paul Haslam stated that he supported the statement and had frequently campaigned for better and safer active travel options. Councillor Sam Gibbs expressed support for the statement but was concerned that a blanket approach to a 20mph zone was not right as it would not be appropriate to create day long 20mph zones on main roads such as Otley Road and Leeds Road. Councillor Michael Harrison expressed concern that if the Committee was to make a recommendation in regard of a 20mph zone for the West of Harrogate the recommendation needed to be specific about what was being asked for.

Councillor Hannah Gostlow proposed that the Committee endorse the petition as it stood.

Councillor John Mann subsequently proposed the following: the Committee notes the petition and recognizes that the requested actions from the petition are currently being considered as part of the ongoing review by the council of its current 20 mile per hour speed limit and zone policy. The committee now awaits the publication of Councillor Duncan's report on the review.

Following Councillor Mann’s proposal Councillor Matt Walker seconded Councillor Gostlow’s original proposal.

During the debate Councillor Monika Slater proposed that the Committee endorse the summary wording for the petition in paragraph 2.4 of the report which stated that the “The petition calls for North Yorkshire Council to deliver a maximum speed of 20mph across south and west Harrogate - covering Oatlands and parts of Pannal, Stray, Hookstone and St Georges areas in Harrogate (as outlined in red on the petition)”

Councillor Hannah Gostlow and Councillor Matt Walker accepted Councillor Monika’s summary/amendment to be the substantive motion.

A vote was taken on the substantive motion and seven members voted for the motion, four voted against and there was one abstention.

Resolved – 

That the Committee endorses the petition as stated in paragraph 2.4 of the report: “The petition calls for North Yorkshire Council to deliver a maximum speed of 20mph across south and west Harrogate - covering Oatlands and parts of Pannal, Stray, Hookstone and St Georges areas in Harrogate (as outlined in red on the petition)”