Council Delays Decision on 20 mph Zone

THAME town councillors have delayed making a decision on whether or not to support a 20mph speed limit in the centre of the town, while they await clarification of accident statistics for the proposed area.
At the end of a heated discussion about the proposal at last night?s Planning Committee meeting, during which Cathy Gaulter-Carter spoke in favour of the proposal, and Mr Richard Hughes spoke against, it was also agreed to put the matter before the full town council.
Confusion over the accident statistics followed representation by Mr Anthony Kirkwood, of the Road Safety Department at Oxfordshire County Council, and figures researched by Thame resident, Mr Richard Hughes.
Mrs Gaulter-Carter said that she regretted that Aylesbury Road had not been included in the proposed zone but was of the opinion that there were many near-miss type accidents around the town which were not recorded. The proposal, she felt, would increase the perception of increased safety in the town by those wanting to cycle rather than drive in the area, especially in the future when more children and adults would be using the Phoenix Trail once the extension to the school and Leisure Centre had been completed.
?By adding just a few seconds to their journey,? she said, ?by driving at 20 mph, drivers could perhaps save a life.?
Mr Hughes called the proposal ?Draconian?, stating that his research into accident figures over the last five years showed that no benefit would be gained by speed reduction. He maintained that more and higher speed humps would be required and that the increased signage would ?blight? the town. Mr Hughes also stated that he had been informed by two ambulance trusts that emergency response times would be reduced by the proposals.
Mr Kirkwood explained that the county council intended to carryout a short consultation to confirm that the community does not, as a whole support the scheme, in which case it would be abandoned. He reiterated that Thame Town Council, as it was then constituted, did narrowly approve the scheme in 2002, but councillors present at last night?s meeting, said that, as far as they could remember, the proposals at that time only included the town centre.
Mr Kirkwood explained that it was part of the government?s Road Safety Strategy to have 20 mph limits in town centres and that Thame had been chosen as one of the sites to test the idea.
Cllr Nigel Champken-Woods said that, whilst he agreed there was a problem in the Aylesbury Road, he thought the expenditure was unnecessary in an area where, he considered it was difficult to travel at more than 20mph anyway.
Cllr David Laver, said: ?admittedly the scheme does seem to have grown since the original proposal but we could be throwing the baby out with the bathwater if we reject it in its entirety. In my view it is vital that we keep some areas with lower speed limits, especially now that the cycle routes across Thame are out.?
?There are people who break the speed limit between speed humps,? he said, ?and I would be in favour of the county council looking at the number of vehicles using the town centre with a view to considering pedestrianisation of that area. Both these proposals would encourage traffic to go around the by-pass.?
Cllr Champken-Woods said that new signage was soon to go in place by Lord Williams?s school to send drivers around the town to go to Chinnor, which he felt would alleviate some of the problems.
The discussion also included the pros and cons of so-called courtesy crossings.

ED. What do YOU think about the proposed 20 mph Zone, full details of which can be viewed at the town hall? Email your views to: editor@thamenews.net