Improving Safety In Darwin Road

No Waiting at Any Time restrictions have now been put in place with the painting of yellow lines at the junctions in Darwin Road.

The Thornbury Road / Darwin Road junction in particular has been a danger spot with the lack of vision afforded to drivers due to the parked cars at this junction.

I along with Councillors Michael Ball and Brian Parnell have supported Southampton City Councils’ implementation of parking restrictions.

We hope that this should limit the number of road traffic accidents in this area and improve pedestrian safety.

We have also asked that the parking enforcement officers be vigilant with extra enforcement activity in the early weeks of the introduction of this scheme to help reinforce this measure with drivers.

Parking Restrictions in Darwin Road

The Council has drawn up plans for a Traffic Regulation Order for Darwin Road. This proposes yellow lines around the junctions of Darwin Road and Greville Road and Darwin Road and Thornbury Avenue.

This is to stop cars parking on the corners of the road and blocking visability. There was an accident at the junction with Thornbury Avenue recently and these plans are response to the concerns raised by residents.

Unless there are strong objections to the proposals this will be implemented in the near future.

The Council Needs to Act Now To Promote Family Housing

On Wednesday (at the Housing Scrutiny Panel) the Council will be debating what can be done to promote more family housing in the city. There are some interesting papers on the Council Website. Click HERE.

Since 2000 over 80% of new properties built in Southampton have been flats.

We need to get the balance right between houses and flats in order to have sustainable communities.

A lot more also needs to be done to protect the character of attractive old buildings. Too many are being pulled down and replaced with ugly blocks of flats, with inadequate parking.

A few weeks ago I met with the head of planning and residents from Thornbury Avenue to discuss how the council could put in place more effective measures to protect against over development.

I am very keen to see development briefs drawn up for neighbourhoods. These could state what level of development should take place, and future planning applications would be judged against the criteria set out in these briefs.

UPDATE 27/02/07: This meeting has been postponed. Not fixed date as yet.