PETITION TO REMOVE SPEED HUMPS
Petition Against Speed Humps in Chislehurst
Written April 2008
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Back in 1998, the Bromley Borough Roads Action Group (BBRAG) was formed to oppose the proposed installation of speed humps in Manor Park Road and Watts Lane, Chislehurst (in the London Borough of Bromley). This scheme consisted of 5 round-top humps and 7 speed cushions in what was a relatively quiet road for most of the day. Although there is a large school nearby, school run traffic actually slows vehicles so no schoolchildren had been injured on the road in recent years.
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Most residents thought it was a total waste of money (cost of £40,000) and did not want the humps, but the scheme was unfortunately at the time supported by councillors and council staff and gained marginal support from residents by the use of a biased consultation leaflet. This was of course long before the disadvantages of humps had become widely known and such evidence promoted internationally by the BBRAG Chairman.
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In 2006 an analysis of the impact of the humps on accidents in the roads was done. In essence it showed that there was no statistical evidence of any improvement in the accident rate. See Speed-Hump-Effects for details.
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So recently we launched a petition among local residents to have them removed. This was done by house-to-house canvassing of immediately adjacent streets and a leaflet drop to a wider area (that used in the original consultation).
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The results were 258 signatures obtained in support (that compares with only 85 people who responded to the original council consultation). That implies that 76% of people who were personally approached (63 out of 83) signed the petition, clear evidence of the strength of support for removing the humps.
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The petition has now been submitted to Environment Portfolio Holder Councillor Colin Smith. We await a response, but note that we asked for alternative traffic calming measures to be installed to replace the humps.
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Roger Lawson
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Postscript: The result of the petition was that Mr Smith promised that when the road was due for resurfacing, a public consultation would be undertaken to determine whether there was support to remove the humps. That was all he was willing to commit to. But we will ensure that this promise is adhered to.
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