Agenda item

Motion A

Proposed by: Councillor Frank Allen

Seconded by:  Councillor Flo Clucas

Road Chaos in Swindon Village

Swindon Village, and northwest Cheltenham, is one of the biggest business hubs in West Cheltenham, and is home to a diverse community of people. Businesses and residents rely on well-managed, safe, and usable roads to live and prosper.

Northwest Cheltenham is also a gateway to Cheltenham and its growth. We need well-maintained roads that continue to make this possible. What happens to the roads in Swindon Village indelibly affects the town.

In recent months, however, road closures, congestion, and chaos has blighted the area.

May 2024 saw a significant number of local residents and businesses impacted by the road closures in Swindon Village. A series of prolonged works, most notably on Manor Road, have meant significant delays, missed appointments, and a sizeable drop in local business sales. The road congestion has not abated.

Moreover, people feel unsafe using, crossing, and living next to these roads. The narrowness of Swindon Road bridge has resulted in pedestrian paths being blocked, and the bridge being impassable. People have been struck and badly hurt on this bridge and on Swindon Road due to poor road management. Properties have been hit by vehicles failing to pass narrow roads. Action needs to be taken to improve the safety of our roads, to properly coordinate road closures, and to manage traffic.

A petition garnering 100 signatures ran from early August to 30 September, and was formally presented to Gloucestershire County Council at Shire Hall on 6 November. However, while we are partially assured by the response, further action needs to be taken over the course of the new year to resolutely fix the problem.

With well-managed, safe, and usable roads in Swindon Village, we can increase the quality of life for residents while delivering on the Council’s commitment to boosting Cheltenham’s prosperity and economic growth.

Council is requested to approve the following resolution:

That the Leader of CBC will write to the Cabinet Member for Highways at Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) and request an end to the general road mismanagement in Swindon Village and northwest Cheltenham, with the following specific recommendations:

1. That a review into traffic regulation orders in the ward be undertaken, with a particular focus on delivering a TRO for a one-way network on Elm Street and Waterloo Street.
2. That a 20mph speed limit for streets in the ward be consulted on.
3. That Network Rail and the Major Projects team be asked to review the need to upgrade the Swindon Road bridge on the grounds of safety, with consideration for expanding the bridge and/or implementing a separated pedestrian/cycle crossing.
4. That GCC reviews the coordination of public utilities works with Borough and County councillors, local representatives and developers on a quarterly basis.
5. That GCC has recourse to their powers to implement fines and Fixed Penalty Notices in instances of non-conformity.
6. That safer pedestrian crossings on Tewkesbury Road and Swindon Road be implemented.
7. That the Cabinet Member for Planning and the Chair of Planning Committee calls on the Highways Authority to give proper consideration to conditions that could help to minimise traffic disruption for future planning applications and works to enforce these.

In proposing the motion, Councillor Allen said that the poor state of the roads in Swindon Village is the issue most frequently brought up by local residents, who feel let down by Gloucestershire County Council’s management of highway matters, with  atrocious traffic, worsened by the prolonged Manor Road closure, and the lack of speeding and parking controls making roads treacherous, particularly around schools.  Road closures between May 2020 and 2024 have caused delays to motorists of up to an hour, with residents missing crucial appointments and local businesses losing sources of income, only to be followed by intolerable volumes of traffic.  In addition, there are reports of serious accidents, including a woman knocked off her bike by a large vehicle near Swindon Road bridge, and the wall of a house off Swindon Road struck by a speeding taxi, causing bricks to fly up and strike the roof and a gas main to be left leaking.

He said councillors have been calling for traffic management in and around Swindon Road for some time but have received no response.  Councillors Clucas and Allen also presented a widely-shared and signed petition, highlighting residents’ concerns, to the county council; this has been acknowledged, but no action appears to have been taken to date to act upon the issues and recommendations raised; today’s motion is an attempt to address these. 

Councillors across the borough will be aware of the issues and share similar concerns, with residents throughout Cheltenham appalled by the state of the roads.  Despite the county’s 74% share of our Cheltenham’s council tax revenue, it has consistently failed in its commitment to manage our roads to ensure they are safe and usable. Swindon Village is a gateway to the town and to future development; without well-managed roads, delivery on future development goals to make Cheltenham the cyber capital of the UK seems incomprehensible to residents.  For a modern, efficient, net-zero Cheltenham, we need to fix the foundations, starting with proper road management.

The motion calls on the Leader, Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control, and Chair of Planning Committee to ensure that we do not have to suffer this mismanagement any longer.  It asks that they write to the county council to support the recommendations put forward by residents of Swindon Village, which will contribute hugely to making Cheltenham a forward-looking and modern town.

The seconder of the motion, Councillor Clucas, reserved her right to speak.

Members thanked Councillors Allen and Clucas for raising this important issue, and  made the following comments in debate:

-       the county council has finally decided to use an experimental traffic regulation order (TRO) to address the issues around permit parking in All Saints ward, which allows time to see if proposals work and the opportunity to make further changes.  An experimental TRO could be used in Swindon Village;

-       the motion should be seen as a broad rallying cry to keep up the pressure on the county council to raise its game after successive failures to respond to requests for help. Residents feel let down by the lack of response to a 1000-signature petition following an incident in Pittville where an 11-year-old boy was hit by a car, by the length of time it has taken for the county to address the broken paving and tarmac issues in the High Street, and by the lack of evidence to suggest that the county will put forward a properly integrated highways transport policy to support residents in Pittville, St Paul’s and Swindon Village in the face of further pressure from the proposed house-building at North Place, The Folly and Hardwick Campus;

-       residents regularly speak to councillors about the state of the roads, which is getting worse.  A simple trip to the supermarket from Springfield can be horrendous, and it is worse for residents of Swindon Village.  It is hard to believe that there is no government quango for roads, which are literally falling apart and receiving no investment.  The district tries to support the county, including the Connecting Cheltenham report which would benefit our communities, but the county council doesn’t seem to care.  This motion will be an extra push, to move the failing conservatives at the county;

-       the issues highlighted in the motion are a symptom of problems with the county council.  Road safety around schools should be a priority, but 3.75 years into its term of office, the school safety scheme is still awaiting funding, and the county does not recognise the need for a 20mph limit around Rowanfield School, despite a petition from parents and residents.  A 20mph limit on all residential streets would be welcome, particularly as there is evidence of 30mph limits regularly being exceeded, with cars tracked by county council speed monitors travelling at 55-60mph on narrow residential roads; 

-       it is good to note that issues with Network Rail are also included in the motion, as there is no evidence that their infrastructure is being upgraded to address changes, with barrier down-time at the level crossing on Brockhampton Road on the edge of St Peter’s ward measured in tens of minutes and not properly managed, and nothing being done to prevent bridge strikes on Hyde Lane.  Pressure needs to be put on Network Rail to deliver better infrastructure for Cheltenham.  None of this should be beyond the ability of county councillors and strategic partners to deliver.

The Chair of Overview and Scrutiny welcomed the motion, and said that testimonies about the town-wide lack of safety measures highlighted the need for a meaningful process whereby issues such as this can be referred to the responsible authority.  She was interested in the scope of the motion and the intersecting issues in relation to it, and pleased to support it.

She also said that the Cabinet Member for Safety and Communities, who was not present today, has been working in association with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner on safety issues, following two accidents in a week in St Peter’s ward, close to Rowanfield School.  She welcomed engagement with Swindon Village residents, as cars clearly travel across multiple wards, and said the Green Party is keen to work cross-party on road safety for the entire town focussing on schools, and medical and supported living centres, as well as on other road-based crime and poor-quality road management.  She thanked Councillors Allen and Clucas for the work put in so far, and looked forward to expanding it further. 

In the absence of the Chair of Planning, the Mayor, as Deputy Chair, said the Planning Committee will support the motion and work with the county where possible, although it is in a difficult position as all highway matters are considered by the county council and going against their recommendations could result in an appeal and huge costs. 

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Building Control noted Members’ agreement that this is an important issue, not just for Swindon Village but for the whole town.  He pointed out that although sorting out Junction 10 of the M5 would relieve a lot of pressure, this is an incredibly slow process, requiring a development consent order, based on traffic flow and modelling.  Unfortunately, the Golden Valley consultants, the county council, and Highways England have all come up with hugely different numbers, which need to be resolved before matters can proceed.

He added that working with Network Rail was also extremely challenging, saying that a railway bridge in his own ward had been shut for nine months, causing major disruption.  The county is responsible for the road and Network Rail is responsible for the bridge, but no-one appears to know who is responsible for the embankments on either side of the bridge which were collapsing.  This is now being resolved but the county needs to do better.  He will do his best to help in his role as Cabinet Member, and aim to work in partnership with the county rather than blame them for everything that goes wrong, to benefit the whole borough.

In seconding the motion, Cllr Clucas thanked Members for their valuable comments and gave three examples why she considered the motion to be so important:

-       the wall of a house on the corner of Swindon Road and a side road has been hit six times in the last 18 months, by cars, a bus, a coach and a lorry trying to turn down the side road;

-       there have been several incidents in recent months, including a woman being knocked off her bike by the railway bridge, resulting in serious injury, cars frequently losing their wing mirrors, a child knocked off his bike in a hit and run

incident, and someone monitoring the traffic for the school also being hit by a car;

-       traffic waiting at crossroads and traffic lights near the school in Swindon Village produce fumes which are breathed in by children and young people, particularly harmful for those with asthma or bronchitis.

She said she and the previous ward councillor had asked the county about a traffic regulation order some time ago and been told there was one awaiting consideration; she has subsequently been told that it is not considered a priority here, but a few simple measures, such as synchronising traffic lights to avoid huge queues, would make a huge difference.  Residents need action and the opportunity to have their say, but there seems no option for this at present, other than through the motion proposed today, which shows people of Cheltenham standing up to be counted, requiring the county council to make the best decisions for them. 

In summing up, Councillor Allen echoed Councillor Clucas’s words, and thanked everyone who had spoken for making excellent points and suggestions.   He said the aim of the motion is to bring attention to the deficiency of road management in Swindon Village and to call for action to facilitate Cheltenham’s growth while ensuring that  residents are able to use safe, well-managed and well-cared-for roads.  He was happy to have inspired other Members to bring forward the concerns of their own wards, and welcomed the suggestion of cross-cooperation between parties, thanking Councillor Davies for her suggested amendment.  He hoped the motion would be a stepping stone to future calls to action and encourage all Members to work on raising concerns about road safety across Cheltenham.  He thanked them for considering the motion and for their general expressions of support.

RESOLVED (unanimously) THAT:

-       the motion as proposed is approved.