The Parish Council are concerned that the remedial works undertaken on Pepper Mill were not consulted upon with Parish members, relevant Ward Members or local residents before Capital monies were spent. We were informed of decisions made not asked for input into discussions.
When questioned, Telford & Wrekin Council stated that
“Small scale works were identified on the basis that traffic data shows the majority of vehicles are travelling within the acceptable thresholds for the speed limit and there has only been one recorded accident over the last five years. As such we looked at undertaking some small-scale improvements to highlight the crossings better and also address the noise issues associated with the cobbles.
Pride in Our Community is our overall branding for all works that we do in relation to highways and environment. £10k is identified for this initial work- Of the £10k the cost of removing the cobbles is £2,100.
We still think it’s necessary to deliver these smaller scale improvements to improve the situation in the short term to allow further investigation of any further measures to be undertaken. Given the level of concern we have committed to looking at further improvements in 2018/19 which we have indicatively set aside £50k for these improvements – we are aware most are asking for a zebra crossing, however for it to conform to standards it is likely to require removal of parking, realignment of the carriageway and would also see a yellow belisha beacon flashing outside the front of whoever’s property we put the crossing outside of. This is why we are continuing with the short-term measures as there will be other obstacles to overcome “
A second set of works were carried out and again not consulted upon and we requested an FOI to see what additional monies had been spent:
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 – Information Request -TWC-47904
Further to your recent request, please see below:
Can you please let me have a breakdown of the costs for this additional work that is being undertaken on Pepper Mill & Glendale in Lawley?
Work Type Cost
Signing £3,698.87
Coloured Surfacing £562.80
Road Markings £293.74
Traffic Management £3,073.95
Pulsar Signs £3,627.36
TOTAL £11,256.72
This further information shows that a total of over £21k has been spent on this area with a further £50k earmarked for further improvements.
We do question the effectiveness of the works already completed and with an additional capital outlay of £50k to come, we do hope that a FULL CONSULTATION is forthcoming and input from the Parish Councillors, Ward Members, the school and residents will be sought and listened to.