17 November 2006

Mrs. L Draper Clerk to Beech Hill Parish Council 28 Larks Meade Earley Reading RG6 5TA For the attention of Mr. D. Barr Miller, Chairman

Highways and Transport Council Offices Faraday Road Newbury Berkshire RG14 2AF Our Ref: MC/39215/TM05 Your Ref: Please ask for: Mark Cole Direct Line: 01635 519210 Fax: 01635 519865 e-mail: mcole@westberks.gov.uk

Dear Mr. Barr Miller

Traffic Management Assessment – Beech Hill

Thank you for your letter dated 9 October 2006, addressed to Neil Stacey, regarding the above. Firstly I would like to apologise for the delay in providing you with a response. As you are clearly dissatisfied with Neil's previous letter dated 18 September, as the team Manager I have reviewed the Beech Hill Traffic Management Assessment and previous related correspondence and hope that I will be able to further clarify our position.

Regrettably, officers often find themselves in a position where they must conclude that it is not possible to implement measures that the community requests. Overall, I believe that Neil's letter addressed the concerns that you had raised in a clear and polite way and agree with the conclusions he made. Beech Hill has an excellent safety record and is therefore a low priority for-physical traffic calming measures.

With regard to the specific points raised in your letter, the scheme recently implemented in Mortimer was undertaken as part of our Safer Routes to School programme. This programme makes improvements close to schools in the order of priority determined by the safety record locally. In this case, the scheme was largely funded by developers' contributions rather than the Council's own budgets. The Northbrook Street and Market Place improvements in Newbury are part of the council's Vision to create a vibrant town centre with environmental improvements to benefit all users of the town, both Newbury residents and visitors.

Our Vehicle Activated signs project is still ongoing and Parish Councils will soon receive confirmation of whether it will be possible to introduce the signs they have requested. If you would like to discuss this initiative further, please contact Andrew Garratt, Principal Engineer, on 01635 519491.

Our Transport Strategy team is currently working on a project to identify and implement a freight routing network. This work will make recommendations in respect of which routes are suitable for use by goods vehicles and whether any further weight restrictions are appropriate across the district. This is why Neil determined that the patterns of HGV traffic in Beech Hill should continue to be monitored as it would not be appropriate to consider a weight limit in Beech Hill before this project is concluded. It is anticipated that this work will be complete by the end of 2006 and reported to the Council's Transport Task Group and Area Forums in early 2007.

I am sorry that you feel that we have not responded to your requests but I can assure you that our Assessments are carried out fairly and objectively. I hope that the above has clarified the situation but should you wish to discuss these issues further please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Mark Cole

Traffic Services Manager

c.c.       Nick Carter

Mark Edwards

            Andrew Garratt

Neil Stacey

Councillor Keith Lock

Councillor Keith Chopping