Speeding trial to start with bales in the road (From Bucks Free Press)

Speeding trial to start with bales in the road in Bradenham

12:10pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in News By Rebecca Cain

Speeding trial to start with bales in the road

STRAW bales will be placed on the road in Bradenham to trial a new speeding initiative in the historic village.

Speeding has long been a problem for the parish along Bradenham Wood Lane and residents are hoping a solution may be in sight, with the help of a charity.

In October charity Sustrans secured a grant from Design Council Cabe to work with Bradenham Parish Council on designs to make the village a better place to live.

Residents agreed the biggest problem was speeding through the village so Sustrans worked on creative designs to slow traffic down, while retaining the natural beauty of the National Trust village.

On February 25 bales will be laid in the road to mark out their designs to test what impact the new shape of the road will have on traffic.

Clerk of Bradenham Parish Council, Deirdre Hansen, said: "Speeding is a problem and has been a problem for a long time. If you read the 1952 minutes it was a problem then."

She said the road is used as through way for people who live in Naphill, Walters Ash and Lacey Green and by RAF personnel.

And she said for the small number of villagers there is a lot of traffic.

She said: "They live in very old cottages, which are not double glazed. You can actually stand on the pavement and the road shakes sometimes with the speed."

Mrs Hansen said a traffic survey showed the average speed through the village is between 30 and 40mph, and the speed limit is 30.

She said after the trial they will go to Buckinghamshire County Council, who have been kept in the loop, to see how they can implement the final proposals. They are also working with The National Trust.

She said: "Sustrans has given the parish council more impetus. It also meant more local people have got involved."

Buckinghamshire County Councillor for Icknield and Bledlow, Paul Rogerson, said: "It is great news as far as I am concerned. We are moving forward and developing something that can be tested."

Initial plans include creating a natural stone gateway at the beginning of the road; the possibility of parking bays to narrow the road with planters to soften the look of parked cars and a natural road colour with removal of the white lines, to give the road more of a country lane feel.

For more information on DIY Streets – go to http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/liveable-neighbourhoods/diy-streets.