The story of how we lost our Zebras and gained a Pelican is less about conspiracy and malice by local officials but the low status of traffic on anybody's agenda and the poor state of local democracy.
We had a two year consultation that I managed to contribute to along with six others independently arguing against these backward measures versus three who were supportive (anti pedestrian and hoping for a solution).
What this really showed was the bias of one officer who went through the whole consultation document refuting line by line any dissent. The counter arguments put were as unconvincing as they were biased, but did at least reveal the lack of any engineering analysis as well as the criteria that the council will use to judge the new scheme's success or failure.
When Easter comes we hope to be able to show failure on their own criteria. Bridport has very seasonal traffic and Easter marks the start of the season with much more market activity and many more pedestrians.
The important thing with all this is that if it hadn't been for your Newsnight film a few years ago and the ripples of media interest there would not have been much more than grumbling opposition here. Bringing out the ideas of Shared Space has given a way forward for all town uses and this has had the effect of changing a significant number of peoples attitude. The ghost crossing in the photo is still unofficially in use - drivers stop for pedestrians there and this has spread. People seem to be using the town as they need/want largely ignoring the signs and crossings although drivers are still forced to obey the lights.
Your awareness raising has already changed things!
Hi Martin, thanks for the welcome and I fully support your sentiments. As yet I am a mere novice in this area but I am an enthusiastic learner. BTW the Chideock puffin was being installed last night apparently!
David Neylan
We had a two year consultation that I managed to contribute to along with six others independently arguing against these backward measures versus three who were supportive (anti pedestrian and hoping for a solution).
What this really showed was the bias of one officer who went through the whole consultation document refuting line by line any dissent. The counter arguments put were as unconvincing as they were biased, but did at least reveal the lack of any engineering analysis as well as the criteria that the council will use to judge the new scheme's success or failure.
When Easter comes we hope to be able to show failure on their own criteria. Bridport has very seasonal traffic and Easter marks the start of the season with much more market activity and many more pedestrians.
The important thing with all this is that if it hadn't been for your Newsnight film a few years ago and the ripples of media interest there would not have been much more than grumbling opposition here. Bringing out the ideas of Shared Space has given a way forward for all town uses and this has had the effect of changing a significant number of peoples attitude. The ghost crossing in the photo is still unofficially in use - drivers stop for pedestrians there and this has spread. People seem to be using the town as they need/want largely ignoring the signs and crossings although drivers are still forced to obey the lights.
Your awareness raising has already changed things!
Mar 13, 2010
Karen Sherlock
Mar 21, 2010
Mary Ainscough
Good forum.
Jul 25, 2010