Allerdale and Copeland Green Party

The Green Party is not like your usual political party. We are active members of the Allerdale community.

We care about the same issues as you and we campaign on those issues.

If you think there is an issue that we should be dealing with from recycling to road safety to the quality of your

local neighborhood then please feel free to contact us via email.

Please take a moment of your time to check some of our main campaigns

.CUMBRIA DESERVES SAFER STREETS

The Green Party supports  the national “20’s Plenty For Us” campaign which advocates 20mph limits on residential streets and estates. This is something that has drawn support from Transport Minister Norman Baker as a means of reclaiming streets for residents, pedestrians & cyclist and not just motorists.

 The proposals are very much based on the experience in towns such as Portsmouth, Oxford and Newcastle which have all introduced 20mph speed limits on all residential roads throughout their towns without the use of speed bumps. The community based initiatives reflect the growing realization that the 30 mph limit may have been appropriate in 1934, when it was first introduced with less than 2million motor vehicles on the roads, but is “unfit for purpose” in today’s streets with over 30million vehicles and our aspirations for more active travel for ourselves and our children.

In Portsmouth results over the first year showed that speeds on faster roads were reduced by 7 mph with an initiative that is 50 times cheaper than conventional road humps(cost in Portsmouth was £333 per street). The key was the ownership by the community and that most drivers now themselves live on a 20 mph street and therefore also “own” the benefits.

We in Allerdale & Copeland Green Party support this campaign and would like to see Cumbria County Council introduce it areas where residents are in favour. However, as our chairman Geoff Smith discovered when posing the question to council in support of a petition he presented on behalf of the residents of Row Brow Park, they seem loath to do so. So disappointed was he with their response that he submitted it to the national campaign for comment. The following is the county council response with the campaigns comments in italics.

Allerdale Local Committee – 8.11.10 – Public Participation –

 Response to a question from Mr Geoff Smith regarding the submission of a petition relating to Row Brow Park and the use of ‘20s Plenty’ in connection with 20 mph Speed Limits and Zones.

 Thank you for your question today and I would respond as follows.

 Whilst we share your desire and enthusiasm to introduce ‘20s plenty’, together with 20mph schemes in residential areas, current legislation and guidance in England make this difficult to achieve.

 I am not absolutely convinced that they do share your enthusiasm!

 The Department of Transport Circular 01/2006 ‘Setting Local Speed Limits’ recommends that successful 20mph zones & 20mph limits should be self enforcing, 20mph speed limits are unlikely to be complied with on roads where speeds are substantially higher.

 It also said that :-

 Different road users perceive risks and appropriate speeds differently, and drivers and

riders of motor vehicles often do not have the same perception of the hazards of speed

as do pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians. The needs of vulnerable road users must be

fully taken into account in order to further encourage these modes of travel and

improve their safety.

 The only way to secure compliance is to accompany the 20 limit with substantial, and very expensive, traffic calming measures, as the Police may find it difficult to enforce the 20 limit without it.

 THIS IS ONLY AN OPINION. In Bristol, Warrington, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Wirral, Oxford and elsewhere they hold different opinions and have implemented wide scale 20mph limits.

 Whilst other authorities, particularly in Scotland, have considered and implemented 20mph limits to good effect, in England these are unlikely to comply with the legal requirements of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

 This is not correct/ All of the 20mph schemes in above mentioned authorities comply with the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

 Cumbria County Council is committed to complying with the regulations to ensure that all our speed limits are legally enforceable.

 All of the above authorities have 20mph limits which ARE legally enforceable.

 However, the Department of Transport have recently been consulting with Highway Authorities on changing the guidance to highway authorities on setting local speed limits.

 Yes and in the letter they said that :-

 “We would ask you to use the advice contained in this letter to continue with your speed management activity until the final new guidance is in place.”

 The outcomes of the Department for Transport consultation on setting speed limits is awaited and will inform any changes to the County Council’s current policy and approach.

 The County Council already has an instruction from DfT to use the guidance contained within the Dec 09 circular. This also said :-

 “However, the Portsmouth scheme indicates that where average traffic speeds before the installation of 20 mph limits were above 24 mph, average speeds were significantly reduced, by around 7 mph. (Atkins, 2009). Early evidence also suggests that overall casualty benefits above the national trend are likely.”

In addition Geoff received the following (in italics) from a Green Party councillor on neighbouring Lancashire County Council (the Green Party has, as yet, no councillors in Cumbria).

Hi Geoff,

I think I have heard of this particular reason for saying no, and I think your response is a good one. If you like, you could also mention that your neighbouring County Council, Lancashire, is embarking on three trial areas of signage-only 20mph speed limits, and a fourth area, in Lancaster, is currently under discussion with police support. Survey work related to this development indicated that over 80% of residents are in favour of lowering the speed limit to 20mph in residential areas.

Good luck…and I'll let you know when 'our' 20mph area is agreed. Just waiting on a meeting with Highways about the boundaries, so things are encouraging.

Cumbria County Councils reluctance to consider such schemes must be challenged and if any group of residents require further information they can contact Geoff

Geoff Smith

Chairman Allerdale & Copeland Green Party

Green Parish Councillor gets result

CROSBY & BIRKBY BUS SHELTERS

Crosscanonby Parish Councillor & Allerdale & Copeland Green Party chairman Geoff Smith said “It was at the July 2009

meeting of Crosscanonby parish council that my proposal that we pursue the provision of shelters at the 5 bus stops within

the parish that did not currently have that facility was passed.This was because I had received numerous inquiries from

parishioners about the possibility of this, and because of Green Party policy of encouraging use of public transport.

Almost 12 months on the project has eventually come to fruition after numerous hold ups caused by the seemingly endless

bureaucracy and being passed from pillar to post by the various agencies involved. That we have only achieved 3 of the 5 is

because we were unable to get agreement between all involved on 2 sites.What the process has done though is reinforce my

belief in ‘grown up’ politics.

In May 2009 County Councillor Eddie Martin and myself were electoral opponents, and probably will be so again in the future.

This has not prevented us working closely together on this project that we both believed to be beneficial to the community, in

fact without Eddies help, particularly on funding, we may not have got this far.

We have not achieved the number or type of shelters that would have fulfilled our objectives, but I trust we have gone most of the

way to meeting the requirements of bus users within the villages.”

Currently we are campaigning on issues such as:

Geoff Smith, Crosscanonby Parish Councilor, is currently involved in or campaigning on the following issues

MRWS - managing radioactive waste safely - this body is supposed to recommend or otherwise to principal authorities to participate in supplying site for geological disposal of high/intermediate

level waste. I am Allerdale CALC (Cumbria Association of Local Councils) rep on this body. as environmental groups have withdrawn because of the bodies undoubted predisposition to approve

participation (for similar reasons I would not attend as GP rep for fear of giving it undeserved credence). CALC is very much the lone dissenting voice.

Crosscanonby Parish Council - as councilor I proposed, and got passed, that bus shelters be erected for north bound passengers in Crosby & Birkby (shelters already exist southbound). 

County Council funding and other requirements are now in place except for the issue of a license by CCC highways. they are being less than helpful but will persevere.

One of the items I included in our county election leaflet last year was the introduction of 20 mph limits in residential areas, even though not elected I have received inquiries about this.

Consequently I petitioned for the same on an estate in Dearham. Again the hold up is with CCC highways department who tell me the request does not meet their criteria, but are unable

(or unwilling) to inform what the criteria are.

tend to be based in towns, so it is important we provide what we can locally.

PROVIDING FACILITIES FOR CHILDREN

As chairman of Crosby Comets junior football club Geoff Smith how much enjoyment & purpose this type of organisation can provide.

The club currently has under 10s(mixed) and both boys and girls under 12 teams. For details please contact coaches Andrew (07786804747) or Stephen(07795827433).

If you run a not for profit activity or team for kids in Dearham/Crosby area please let me know & I’ll include details in next newsletter.

SCRAP TRIDENT

Did you know that renewing the Trident system is estimated to cost in excess of £76 Billion?

During this time of economic crisis I would much rather see the government spend the money combating child poverty and youth unemployment, providing affordable homes, investing in

education and mental and physical healthcare as well as addressing the climate crisis, to name a few.

Please join the campaign to Rethink Trident - just click here:
http://action.compassonline.org.uk/page/s/stoptrident