June Chair Letter: Breighton, Leisure Centre Updates & Antisocial Behaviour
Dear Parishioners of Bubwith, Breighton and Willitoft
May was another busy month in Bubwith with the Parish Council’s continued focus on drains and sewage. Unfortunately, our planned meeting with Yorkshire water had to be cancelled as their Chief Engineer had been called away to an emergency. We are pressing for a new date, but in the meanwhile please continue to report all problems and flag with Steve Young () any local concerns to enable us to be press home local issues.
Sadly, I need to mention Dog Poo yet again and make a plea for people to clean up after their pet. There have been a number of incidents lately where dog poo has been left immediately outside someone’s back door on Vicarage Close and in bags outside properties on Staithe Street. We have requested an additional bin near the exit to the church on Staithe Street and there are already bins close to Vicarage Close. Please be considerate to others, thank you.
Breighton has been to the fore of our minds and efforts with some of the enduring issues and more recently flagged concerns. Steve and I met with 14 local residents and 2 fellow Parish Councillors in Breighton on the 14th May. County Councillor, Victoria Aitken and Paul Robinson, Highways Engineer for East Riding of Yorkshire County Council kindly attended. The purpose of the meeting was to catalogue these concerns and focus on solutions.
Unfortunately, a number of residents affected by some of the issues were away and as such this article will act as a distillation of what was said and what might be done.
The concerns and issues:
Historical problems with the disintegration of grass verges within the village on Clay Lane due to increased numbers of vehicles of many varieties mounting the verges when passing other vehicles or parking when delivering to homes.
In winter and wet months, the problem is compounded by mud which in turn impacts on the drains becoming blocked and partial pooling and localized flooding occurring.
The deterioration has progressed to the point where there are deep cavities close to some verges, manhole covers are sitting proud and are a potential issue for damage to cars and people, and the water course from the road to drains has sunk to the point where it can’t drain adequately.
Road Safety and Speeding are of great concern. Residents suggested that the number of young children living in the village has increased to about 40 over the past 5 years. Although there is now a free bus service to transport children to Bubwith School, there are few other child focused amenities and no signage to alert drivers to children being present and the need to slow down and be diligent.
Clay Lane is a narrow road which ends in a farm track. Residents are concerned that drivers don’t observe the 30mph speed restrictions and show little respect for other road users and residents or their property when passing or delivering items.
Peripheral roads between Breighton and adjacent villages have seen marked deterioration subsequent to ‘Lockdown’ and Bubwith Bridge closure. Although not the official diversion many people followed this shorter route and have continued to do so. This together with the increasing size of agricultural machinery has taken its toll.
From the perspective of ERYCC some of the issues they are contending with are: Budget – the allocation for Highways maintenance and new projects has not increased but the demand continues to rise. Categories of risk and urgency have to be rigorously applied and feel dismissive and brutal to local residents as others are deemed more urgent and high risk. The jurisdiction of ERYCC is not always well understood and we assume somethings can be resolved by them that is outside their scope of activities.
Understandably, there was a degree of passion within the discussion but it is a credit to those who
attended that overall they were respectful of each other and clearly focused on getting some solutions. A number of options and actions were discussed:
Working map of Clay Lane – the purpose of the map is to catalogue in a diagram the pinch points and issues. This will enable a number of solutions to be considered and the potential action agent for each to be identified. For example, where some kerbing may be put in place that meets ERYCC funding criteria this would be identified.
Immediately required repairs to mitigate high risk accidents would be picked up (some visible inspection took place following the meeting to take this forward).
Parish Council to explore picking up some verge reconstruction work that falls outside of the ERYCC funding but could be permitted. This would require funding from Bubwith PC to be identified.
Bollards to be strategically placed as identified in the working map to have most impact on driver behaviour. This will have cost implications for ERYCC and as such may not be immediately available.
Other inanimate objects such as benches, locally made signs or mannequins as visual reminders to drivers that this is a small village road and not an A class thoroughfare.
Local people individually or collectively approaching delivery companies to flag poor driver behaviour. Similarly, if flagged with the Parish Council this could be picked up by us.
Signage to raise awareness of children in the area – this to be picked up and progressed by the Parish Council. 20mph restriction zone – from experience the PC knows this is hard to achieve but it will raise this through appropriate channels. In the meantime, it was suggested that residents could consider having local signs asking people to aim for 20mph and be aware of children playing.
Children’s Play Area – the PC will seek to progress this but would need some assistance in identifying some land within Breighton to site this on. Please contact Steve Young if you have any suggestions.
Peripheral Road deterioration – the PC will flag this with appropriate officers at ERYCC.
My thanks to Victoria and Paul for attending the meeting and to all those who came along. It is clear that everybody is committed to improving matters in Breighton and we will continue to focus on making progress with this endeavour.
Finally, if you haven’t been down to Bubwith Leisure and Sport Centre lately you will be in for a few surprises. The Bubwith Bunnies toddler group have finally received a grant from Spaldington Windfarm Community fund and have purchased some lovely new child size tables, great for Monday’s sessions and children’s party bookings.
The lounge refurbishment is complete and there are lots of opportunities to sample this with planned TV sports events, Family Fun Fridays and the upcoming Gin Festival.
As you are aware, Bubwith Leisure & Sport Centre is a charity funded solely through local support and is always on the lookout for donations and raffle prizes. If your spring clean has highlighted any potential prizes you would like to donate please let me know and I’ll arrange to collect or receive them.
Sadly, the leisure centre experienced some antisocial behaviour in the form of graffiti across the 3 ‘no parking’ signs at the entrance to the ground on the night of the 18th May. This may seem insignificant to some, and in particular to our graffiti artist. However, these signs are a requirement by the county council and will be required to be replaced. There is some CCTV footage of the incident and the Police have been informed so we hope to identify the culprit soon.
Best wishes. Sandra Hills, Chair of Bubwith Parish Council
PS. I’m always glad to hear of concerns and issues.
Email: Mob : 07748965779
https://www.facebook.com/BubwithParishCouncil
