1 November 2018 | Flockton Bypass

24 November 20186 December 2018

Road Routes Affecting Flockton – Public Consultation Sessions

At Council on 7 November 2018, the Motion proposed by Cllr Richard Smith & Seconded by Cllr John Taylor was approved by the Council. This committed the Cabinet to:

"undertake an assessment of any impact upon the village of Flockton & B6118 from the NKOR and A62 scheme and to ensure that due consideration is given to the issues in Flockton prior to any work starting on either of these road schemes.”

What we would like to do is encourage as many people as possible to comment on this proposal once it becomes available and to ask what the impact will be on B6118 and Flockton itself, as the Motion has committed them to considering this impact. (Please read full information, below the session dates).

Details of Proposed Open public sessions:

Thursday 6th December 2018 3-7pm @ Bradley & Colnebridge WMC
Colne Bridge Rd, Huddersfield HD5 0RH

MONDAY 10TH DECEMBER 2018 3-7PM @ THE ROOM, BRIGHOUSE
The Old Town Hall, Thornton Square, Brighouse HD6 1EA

TUESDAY 11TH DECEMBER 2018 3-7PM @ ST THOMAS CHURCH BRADLEY
St Thomas Gardens, Huddersfield HD2 1SL

WEDNESDAY 12TH DECEMBER 2018 3-7PM @ HUDDERSFIELD TOWN HALL
Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA

MONDAY 7TH JANUARY 2019 3-7PM @ THE ROBERTTOWN (FORMER WMC)
Roberttown Ln, Liversedge WF15 7LT

TUESDAY 8TH JANUARY 2019 3-7PM @ BATTYEFORD BC PAVILION
442A Huddersfield Rd, Mirfield WF14 0EE

THURSDAY 10TH JANUARY 2019 3-7PM @ BRADLEY & COLNEBRIDGE WMC
Colne Bridge Rd, Huddersfield HD5 0RH

Plans to create £69m Cooper Bridge bypass to M62 finally revealed.

Full information

At Council on November 7th, the Motion proposed by Cllr Richard Smith & Seconded by Cllr John Taylor was approved by the Council. This committed the Cabinet to:

This is helpful timing as the proposed improvements to the A62 are now coming forward for public consultation. Importantly on December 5th the proposals for changes at Cooper Bridge will be made public. These involved the creation of a new road from between Bradley Bar and the Railway Viaduct to connect up to the Brighouse M62 junction. It is stated that this has the potential to remove 1500 cars an hour at peak times from the three Nuns roundabout.

Clearly this new road has the potential to make journeys from A62 to the M62 at Cooper Bridge easier and this therefore has the potential to attract more traffic to use this route and hence up the B6118 and through to Flockton to access the M1.

What we would like to do is encourage as many people as possible to comment on this proposal once it becomes available and to ask what the impact will be on B6118 and Flockton itself, as the Motion has committed them to considering this impact. I would also like people to ask what assessment has been done of the potential impact on air quality and road safety. It is worth remembering that each individual is entitled to submit a comment, so I would encourage households where there is more than one adult that each individual submit a comment but ensure that they are not identical as otherwise they will be dismissed, just change around the order of the points made and change some of the words so each submission is counted individually. The aim is to get as many submissions as possible so that once more the need for a Bypass is self evident and keeps the issue live.

There are also a number of public consultation sessions and I have copied the details of these below, clearly the ones at the WMC by Mama & Papas will be the nearest but if you are able to attend any of these and view the proposals and ask questions about the Flcokton impact, this again would be very helpful. Once the website link to the public consultation goes live on 5th December I will share this so people can log on and add comments.

Cllr. John Taylor

14 November 201814 November 2018

Bypass Meeting With Police

On Wednesday afternoon, of 14 November 2018, members of the bypass campaign group, together with councillors, met with Police and Highways.

The meeting was attended by all 3 Councillors and 4 bypass committee members.

Confirmation was given that the TRO (Traffic Regulation Order) has been revised and will be sent to council committee. (This relates to the enforibility of the weight restriction signage at Grange Moor, heading towards Flockton).

No ANPR camera (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) but Police to attend on a regular basis.

Please continue to contact the companies of HGV's, with names and registrations of vehicles, and inform them of the restrictions from Grange Moor.

20 mph is now enforceable nationally (whereas before, it wasn't). When the 20 mph signs appear in Flockton [from March 2019) they will be enforcible by the Police.

A school sign is to be erected after the traffic lights, approaching the zebra crossing.

There will be a change to the "No access through Flockton to the M1" – removing the "M1" element.

Pavement parking is to be addressed by Police.

Access of HGV's is to be allowed, but proof of delivery will be required.

So in conclusion, not got all we wanted, but still some progress in making the road safer.

8 November 20188 November 2018

Flockton traffic motion carried at Kirklees Council meeting

Attending Kirklees Council's meeting on Wednesday 7 November 2018, Cllr. Richard Smith announced that: "Flockton traffic motion carried". He has added the following statements:

So the motion reads “This Council notes that work is now underway to produce an Option Assessment Report in relation to the North Kirklees Orbital Route [NKOR], which will help to determine if this is a viable scheme to develop. Additionally the £77 million Cooper Bridge by pass, linking the A644 near junction 25 M62 and the A62 near Bradley Bar, is currently in the Design phase.

"The Council recognises that both these schemes have the potential to significantly affect the volume and flow of traffic in and around the village of Flockton and on the B6118.

"Given the existing severe traffic problems affecting the village of Flockton and the undoubted increase in the future with developments already in construction and the potential from the Local Plan , the Council recognises that even if it were to overlook the 2 major road schemes already mentioned, without intervention, this situation will only continue to deteriorate. Therefore, the council calls on the Cabinet to undertake an assessment of any impact upon the village of Flockton and B6118 from the NKOR and A62 scheme and to ensure that due consideration is given to the issues in Flockton prior to any work starting on either of these road schemes.”

And…

“Which in practice means there is now a marker in the sand, in terms of the major road schemes being considered at the moment, in that when these progress, an assessment must be undertaken on any impact on Flockton and surrounding area. It also means that it is something we can use to pressurise the Cabinet in terms of consideration of Bypass, plus we can use this to discuss related issues at the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Also MRN [Major Road Network] funding is potentially suitable, and following this motion, it means we can more easily bring up business related to this. So overall a small step in a longer battle, but the fact that this was passed is a much more positive step than where we were at 6 months ago. It is also very encouraging that there was no real opposition to a frank discussion about traffic issues in Flockton.”

The campaign continues. Please keep showing your support.