Hawkwell speed bumps to be torn up after one complaint (From Southend Standard)
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Speed bumps in Magnolia Road, Hawkwell, will be ripped up after one complaint
10:00am Friday 16th November 2012 in Echo News By Emma Thomas
Hawkwell speed bumps to be torn up after one complaint
SPEED bumps along a lane in Hawkwell will be torn up due to the complaints of one man.
Residents in Magnolia Road clubbed together to put them in to slow down traffic after two dogs were killed.
Stuart Mennell, the former clerk of Hawkwell Parish Council, complained to the council and took Tracey Chapman, former highways boss for Essex County Council, to a local Government ombudsman.
Now the council has been ordered to rip them up.
Mrs Chapman said she had fought to keep them all along and felt “mortified”.
She said: “The residents paid for the bumps themselves. Nobody was worried about it, it cured the problem.
“It is really unfair that one person seems to override what everyone else wants.”
Mrs Chapman said other ways to slow traffic down in the unmade road had been looked at but were not suitable.
She added: “We looked at putting speed bumps in but it was too expensive and we would have to make the whole road up which changes the character of the lane. It is not wide enough to put other restrictions in and they would have to put lighting up.”
Shelley Edwards, 39, has lived in the road for 18 years and said one of the bumps had been there since 1988.
She said: “It is a long stretch of road and the traffic became terrible. It was an accident waiting to happen.
“He doesn’t even live down the road. Its just one person and they are saying because he has been to the ombudsman they have got to take them out.
“It is absolutely ridiculous. Essex County Council have got better things to spend their money on.”
Another neighbour, Anne Hazle, added: “He never asked anybody elses opinion but decided he doesn’t like them and they have got to go.
“We don’t think it is fair - it should be a decision for the whole area.”
Carran Sims, 44, from Hockley, has been riding horses along the lane for more than 30 years.
She added: “If they are removed they will just use it as a racetrack. There are a lot of dog walkers and horseriders that use it.”
Tricia Mennell, wife of Stuart, said customers to their boarding kennels in Durham Road had complained about the speed bumps.
She said: “The speed bumps are illegal, they are too high, it does your suspension in. It doesn’t matter how slow you go over the bumps.
“The customers that come to us have been complaining about it, they have got sports cars.
“We have got nothing against speed bumps but we really would like them put in properly."
Comments(14)
Olivia2847
says...
10:27am Fri 16 Nov 12
DogsMessInLeigh
says...
10:28am Fri 16 Nov 12
Olivia2847
says...
10:36am Fri 16 Nov 12
DogsMessInLeigh wrote:Perhaps they should put speed bumps along the pavements in Leigh Road and The Broadway DMiL - that should solve a few problems ....
Sounded like that chap had the right hump.
dhd
says...
10:40am Fri 16 Nov 12
How many people take their dogs to the kennels in sports cars.
This kennels employs young people to walk the dogs up and down this lane and now it's going to be less safe. I was thinking of using this kennels now Warrens has closed but definitely not now.
DogsMessInLeigh
says...
10:48am Fri 16 Nov 12
Olivia2847 wrote:Yeah that should slow up the mobility scooters.. a bit anyway.
DogsMessInLeigh wrote:Perhaps they should put speed bumps along the pavements in Leigh Road and The Broadway DMiL - that should solve a few problems ....
Sounded like that chap had the right hump.
exBillericayDicky
says...
11:23am Fri 16 Nov 12
When did he move in? were the speed bumps there? If so, tough!
Is the road adopted by the council? if not. they should not be made to remove.
The idea that the bumps are 'too high' is laughable, if they are, then every speed bump I have ever driven over is aswell! If they are "damaging suspension" then you are driving far to quickly for the road/conditions, it'll be the pot holes that are damaging the cars, not these so called speed bumps
definitelymaybe
says...
11:39am Fri 16 Nov 12
If this road is subject to the road traffic management and planning rules then they either have to be approved retrospectively or taken up. That's it. If they aren't suitable under those rules then they have to come up otherwise some berk could hit one at 30 mph (probably in a sports car with a dog in it), take off, wipe someone or something out and end up claiming from the residents that put them in and the council that failed to act. That's the way it is people.
exBillericayDicky
says...
11:50am Fri 16 Nov 12
definitelymaybe wrote:Ever driven down there? doing 30 would be irresponsible at best. 20 is pushing it, and absolutely no way could you wipe out a car down it unless your driving standard is that of a total Aunt. And if you have a dog and are worried about precious Fido, then you’d never drive like a Berkshire Hunt whatever the road.
I came to this because the Echo termed the story "intriguing".. Lies. It's dull. If this road is subject to the road traffic management and planning rules then they either have to be approved retrospectively or taken up. That's it. If they aren't suitable under those rules then they have to come up otherwise some berk could hit one at 30 mph (probably in a sports car with a dog in it), take off, wipe someone or something out and end up claiming from the residents that put them in and the council that failed to act. That's the way it is people.
It does depend on what the original planning permissions were. But while the council are digging up the road, I hope they fill in the pot holes, as i said, They will do far more damage than the “speed” humps Ever could.
mys842
says...
12:05pm Fri 16 Nov 12
Beth the original one
says...
1:49pm Fri 16 Nov 12
Beth the original one
says...
1:49pm Fri 16 Nov 12
Olivia2847
says...
3:30pm Fri 16 Nov 12
DogsMessInLeigh wrote:And them as well - thanks! Apparently the bumps are too low for Priscilla's horse called 'Nutmeg' to jump over. I will fetch my Thelwell album out and post some pictures soon - yawn ......
Olivia2847 wrote:Yeah that should slow up the mobility scooters.. a bit anyway.
DogsMessInLeigh wrote:Perhaps they should put speed bumps along the pavements in Leigh Road and The Broadway DMiL - that should solve a few problems ....
Sounded like that chap had the right hump.
Beth the original one
says...
10:50am Tue 20 Nov 12
Olivia2847 wrote:well olivia i am so glad you value vehicles over actual lives, nice to know where your priorities lie
DogsMessInLeigh wrote:And them as well - thanks! Apparently the bumps are too low for Priscilla's horse called 'Nutmeg' to jump over. I will fetch my Thelwell album out and post some pictures soon - yawn ......
Olivia2847 wrote:Yeah that should slow up the mobility scooters.. a bit anyway.
DogsMessInLeigh wrote:Perhaps they should put speed bumps along the pavements in Leigh Road and The Broadway DMiL - that should solve a few problems ....
Sounded like that chap had the right hump.
GentleGiant says...
10:25am Fri 16 Nov 12
Tracey Chapman and the rest of her ECC friends should know the law on these items. It is well documented. The speed humps could be flattened out a bit though if they wanted to keep them.
Clearly corners have been cut.
Well done to the chap that complained.