Our expert challenges the Council's safety audit
Moira Gibb
Chief Executive
London Borough of Camden
Dear Ms Gibb
Little Green Street - Construction Access Method Statement
As you know, we have been retained by the residents of Little Green Street
to advise them in relation to the Constructional Methodology Statement (CMS)
for the development of the former British Railway Staff Club site and we
have been asked to respond to a point that you raised in your letter of 21
September.
It is good to hear that the Council's Highways Engineers are undertaking a
safety audit of the construction access proposals. As we have stated
previously, the Local Authority need to ensure that they deal fully and
properly with condition (5) of the Planning Inspector's decision. In doing
so, this audit must be undertaken according to the guidelines set out in the
Design Manual for Roads & Bridges, document HD 19/03. Implicit in this
process is the consideration of all users of the highway, particularly
vulnerable groups such as young children, the elderly and the mobility and
visually impaired. This is a key issue for Little Green Street, which is in
reality a shared surface. Most of the houses on Little Green street are
occupied by families with young children and residents of the three houses
which have their front doors opening onto the southern side of the street
step in and out directly onto the road. The proposed volume of construction
traffic running past these entrances creates a significant safety problem
that is not properly addressed in the CMS. The residents of these houses are
prepared to grant access to the safety auditors so that they can fully
assess the highways safety issues.
Furthermore, the safety audit must have regard to the actual physical
arrangement of the carriageway, the kerbs, the features in the street and
the properties fronting the street. As stated in our report of July 2006,
the diagrams of the existing layout of Little Green street that the
Developer has presented are not correct and overestimate the width of the
carriageway. Therefore, the safety audit must refer to an accurate survey of
the street and the junction with Highgate Road that picks up all the
features such as bollards, lamp posts, projecting cills and bow windows and
other attachments to the houses. Without this, the safety issues cannot by
fully and fairly considered.
We trust that you will pass this onto your Highways Engineers so that they
can give these issues their full consideration.
Yours sincerely
Jason Cross
for Alan Baxter & Associates LLP
Little Green Street
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