Cheltenham Green Party expands campaign on speeding and street crossings in St Paul’s and Cheltenham.
After years of inaction and excuses by the Liberal Democrats in Cheltenham Borough Council and the Conservatives at Gloucestershire County Council , it is time to act.
The Green Party has a long running campaign to put in place pedestrian crossings in the busiest and most dangerous roads in St Paul’s (you can sign our petition here). We have now expanded this to include 20mph speed limits in built up areas.
These are simple common sense measures, residents in St Paul’s tell us their community is being used as a shortcut road for traffic passing through, and the roads are dangerous and noisy if you are on foot, bike, partially sighted or trying to get kids to school. We have spoken to residents who experience all of these situations, and they want change.
Despite this, the County Council has resisted saying that the roads don’t have enough traffic or accidents, and the Lib Dem County Councillor for the area refuses to back the campaign, dismissing residents concerns saying there are other more dangerous places. Why must things get so bad that accidents are happening and traffic is unbearable before simple measures like crossings are installed? It is time we prioritise residents, who are sick of being ignored.
Establishing a 20mph zone is a particularly bad example of inaction from the Liberal Democrat council. Everyone knows speeding kills, and that areas where people live and work have the most need for reasonable and safe speed limits. Slower cars means safer streets, better air quality and quieter roads.
The Liberal Democrat’s themselves back a 20mph zone in Cheltenham, completed a consultation in 2017 on the measures and it is even in their local manifesto. Despite this, the Lib Dem’s have failed to act for the last 6 years. Many towns in Gloucestershire have put these 20mph zones in place, what makes Cheltenham unable to do so? Blaming the Conservatives won’t cut it, we must work with the county council to get this done. You can sign our petition on speeding here.
The Green Party will continue to push for local residents voices to heard on these issues but we need your help.
If you are fed up of the status-quo and want to see real change, you can join our campaigns here, and join the Green Party here.
