EDLESBOROUGH PARISH COUNCIL

Pantiles

Eaton Bray Road

Northall

Dunstable

Beds. LU6 2EU

Telephone: 01525 220859

30^th January 2007

Mr Garrett R. Emmerson

Head of Transportation

Buckinghamshire County Council

County Hall

Aylesbury

Bucks.

HP20 1UY

Dear Mr Emmerson

The A4146 through Northall is the only village between Leighton Buzzard and Dagnall whose speed limit remains at 40mph. Billington, Edlesborough and Dagnall all have a 30mph limit on the A4146. With heavy commuter traffic using the A4146 between Leighton Buzzard and Hemel Hempstead the morning and evening ‘rush hour’ traffic is extensive and accidents, and many near-accidents, have occurred particularly on the Northall stretch of the A4146.

Consequently, over the past few years my Council has been under a great deal of pressure from Northall residents to try and initiate action to ‘calm the traffic’. The overwhelming request has been for the speed limit to be reduced to 30mph and for it to be extended from the current northern boundary at Home Farm to the junction with Chapel Lane. There was some serious disappointment when the residents were advised that a review of the Northall speed limit had to wait until the overall review of speed limits throughout Buckinghamshire was initially to be carried out in 2006.

In the meantime your Department’s endeavours in arranging the "experimental" VAS and subsequent improvements in road markings and signage etc were very visible – and very much appreciated.

Unfortunately, when news reached the Northall residents last year that the speed limit review was being postponed until 2008 my Council was again being criticised for not applying sufficient pressure on Buckinghamshire County Council. There was real anger that our community, just inside the county boundary in north Buckinghamshire, was losing out to parishes in the south of the county where the reviews had been, or were about to be, carried out.

At our Parish Council meeting last Thursday there was uproar when it was announced that the Consultation and Implementation of the Area 13 Speed Limit Review was being delayed – yet again – until 2009, and that any proposals would not be implemented until 2011 at the earliest.

This is not acceptable to my Council – and it certainly will not be acceptable to the residents of Northall when they find out.

In order to avoid a great deal of public debate and unrest my Council requests that this matter be considered as a priority, is taken out of the overall Speed Limit Review, and dealt with immediately as a separate priority item.

Yours sincerely

L.C. Sargeant (Mrs)

Clerk to Edlesborough Parish Council

Copy to: Mr. John Bercow MP

Mrs Avril Davies

Mrs Pauline Hannelly