County road chiefs are accused of dragging their feet over calls for a pedestrian crossing on a main route through an East Devon village.
Frustration has been aired about the protracted analysis over a possible pedestrian crossing for an East Devon village that its residents believe is long overdue, writes local democracy reporter Bradley Gerrard.
Members of a committee that deals with traffic-related issues heard that work was continuing to see whether there was need for a pedestrian crossing in Newton Poppleford.
The village is well-used thoroughfare for drivers because it is dissected by the A3052, which connects Exeter with the likes of Sidmouth and Seaton.
It has one crossing for pedestrians, however, the only other pedestrian-focused street furniture are two refuges mid-way across the road.
Councillors who cover the area said they have been seeking better provision for pedestrians for years because of the heavy traffic flow.
Councillor Jess Bailey (Independent, Otter Valley) asked for an update on the scheme for an additional crossing in the village, and was told that officers were awaiting traffic and pedestrian count data.
This would be reviewed, with the findings brought to the next East Devon highways and traffic orders committee (Hatoc), officers said.
But the local member, Councillor Christopher Burhop (Independent, Newton Poppleford & Harpford), said questions about the crossing had been ongoing for “four or five years”.
“I have been a member of this committee for that length of time, and there was a pedestrian survey last year, so it beggars belief that things have taken so long,” he said.
“It really feels like Newton Poppleford is being procrastinated to by Devon County Council; that’s the feeling of residents, and the chair of the parish council too.”
The Hatoc committee chair, Councillor Paul Hayward (Independent, Axminster), noted that given the potential proximity of local government reorganisation, which will abolish Devon’s existing councils in favour of newer, larger councils, it was “important to get this over the line before our authority is wound up and a new one created”.
Some critics of local government reorganisation (LGR), which is the process of replacing the current two-tier structure of local government with unitary councils, fear that because the new councils will have a larger footprint, smaller communities might struggle to get their voices heard.
LGR is intended to rid Devon of the two-tier system of local government, whereby district councils oversee some services and the county council is in charge of others all within the same geographic area.
