Helen Goodman

Helen has written to Durham County Council to show her continuing support for proposals to reduce the speed limit to 40mph on the A688 at Evenwood Gate.

In December Durham County Council announced proposals to introduce a 40mph zone on this notorious stretch of road, which accounts for 7% of all road accidents across the Bishop Auckland constituency despite being only 250 metres in length.

These proposals came at the end of a long campaign by local residents, who had until April 21 to make representations to Durham County Council (DCC).

Helen said:

“I was really shocked when I saw the Police were objecting to this proposal, which is long overdue and will give the residents of Evenwood Gate peace of mind.

I have submitted my representations to DCC, who I hope will follow the advice of officers to reduce the speed limit.

In view of the importance of this matter, I am releasing my letter to DCC in full”. (see below):

————————————————————————————-

Ms Ros Layfield
Senior Democratic Services Officer
Durham County Council
County Hall
Co. Durham
DH1 5UL

21 April 2008

Dear Ms Layfield,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment on the proposal to amend (reduce) the speed limit on the A688 at Evenwood Gate to 40mph.

I fully support this proposal because:

i) Road traffic accidents are the single greatest cause of non-natural deaths in Co. Durham.

ii) Speeding is the greatest factor within this (see graph attached as Annex A, supplied by Co. Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service).

iii) Evenwood Gate is a notorious blackspot: this 100 yard stretch of road accounted for 7% of all accidents in my constituency, which contains many hundreds of miles of roads (see chart and graphs attached as Annex B, also supplied by Co. Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service).

iv) This proposal is strongly supported by the people of Evenwood Gate, who have been campaigning on this issue for nearly 20 years.

Turning to the objections from Durham Constabulary, I would like to make the following observations:

a) The County has an objective of reducing serious injuries and deaths to children by 40% by 2010. All the public authorities in the County should be co-operating to achieve this, not looking for excuses to get out of this responsibility.

b) I note that the Durham Constabulary are unable to make a case which is specific to Evenwood Gate, and are relying on a thin-end-of-the-wedge argument. Each individual case must be addressed on its merits, and the Evenwood Gate situation is absolutely clear.

c) The Constabulary’s understanding of Government Policy is outdated, as it fails to take account of the objectives set out in The Children’s Plan last autumn (attached as Annex C).

d) Furthermore, it is quite inappropriate for the Constabulary to argue that in other villages across the County local feeling should be ignored and resisted. We operate a policy of policing by consent in this country, which means police and communities should cooperate to improve road safety across the board.

Yours sincerely,

Helen Goodman
Member of Parliament for Bishop Auckland