Sproatley Parish Council – Fracking
The Parish Council understands the emotive nature of the debate on the merits of Hydraulic Fracturing ‘fracking’ and has received numerous correspondence on the matter. Fracking is of course a national and international issue and there is a plethora of information available from various sources both in support and being critical of this type of technology.
For our part, it is important to recognise that no fracking or conventional fossil fuel exploration is taking place or is planned within the Parish boundary and as such any influence that we might have on permissions etc would be extremely limited. Therefore, despite any individual councillor convictions, we as a parish council remain neutral on the topic.
Irrespective of the technology itself there could be other ramifications for the village should there be an increase in commericial/industrial activity and the council will continue to monitor this. This would be the same irrespective of the type of activity concerned. We have representatives on the Rathlin Energy Liaison Committee who report back to the regular meetings of the Parish Council and we will monitor the situation closely – especially in regard to increased traffic volumes.
Sproatley Parish Council – Traffic Management
One of the major causes of concern and a regular subject at Parish Council meetings is the perceived increase in speed of traffic through the village, especially along Main Road. The concern is rightly borne out of fears over people (especially children) crossing the road to access the shop/post office or to get to and from school. Over the past few years the Parish Council has contacted ERYC to look at the feasibility of various traffic calming measures – increased signage, pedestrian crossings, priority access.
The Parish Council again contacted ERYC in late 2016 with our concerns and we received the following response.
a) Speed through the village
I understand resident's concerns as this is the top issue that we get asked to look at. We carried out the Speed Management Procedure assessment on the B1238 through Sproatley in May 2013. These assessments are valid for up to five years so we would not reassess until We had a 24 hour 7 day speed survey carried out and added the number of speeding offenders recorded to the number of personal injury collisions recorded in the previous 3 year period. This gave us a Speed Management Procedure rating of 4. The agreement we have with Humberside Police is that for sites with ratings of 16 or over they will carry out speeding enforcement, between 12 and 15 our Road Safety Team will install temporary Speed Indication Devices to remind drivers to slow down. Below 12, the Road Safety Team will add the Parish Council onto a hire list for the Speed Indication Devices for a fee of £450-£500 per month. I can ask them to add Sproatley onto this list if you would like and they will then get in contact with you.
b) Feasibility of a pedestrian crossing
After carrying out an assessment of the feasibility of a zebra crossing on the B1238 in the centre of Sproatley a year ago, we wrote to the MP Graham Stuart who had contacted the Council on behalf of residents. The crossing numbers were too low to make the zebra a safe proposition as drivers would grow accustomed to not stopping at the crossing as they drove through the village.
c) Traffic calming outside the village, specifically signs that tell you your speed
The Council has learned that such signs do not result in a long term reduction in vehicle speeds where they have been permanently installed. They were installed on roads with a history of collisions to maximise their effectiveness. We are now using the Speed Indication Devices as a short term measure to lower vehicle's speeds.
The Parish Council will continue to monitor things and will progress things should there be a material change in policy or circumstances.