Cllr James Hockney LLB (Hons)

Conservative Mayoral Candidate joins call for Mayor to deliver on A10

Shaun Bailey, the Conservative Mayoral Candidate for London has joined the calls of local Enfield Borough Conservatives for the Mayor of London to deliver on the A10. Over the years Shaun Bailey has submitted questions to the Mayor on the issue as a GLA member. At the most recent Mayors Question Time, he submitted a question on why only half the A10 Enfield Borough stretch having cameras – the response was that was as TfL and the Mayor of London had only ever intended covering the northern section of the Borough.

Shaun Bailey said, “The Mayor of London is failing to keep residents safe in Enfield and Edmonton. The A10 is a hotspot for dangerous driving, and it’s putting residents’ lives at risk. It’s the Mayor’s job to protect Londoners and he should be cracking down on such reckless driving and supporting residents.

As Mayor, I’ll prioritise this project and deliver speed cameras along the A10. Residents have waited long enough for action.

Well done to Cllr Laban and Cllr Hockney for keeping up the pressure.”

I am very grateful to Shaun for adding his name to the campaign for action.

As I have written previously the A10 through Enfield and Edmonton has seen some of the worst speeding offences in England and was even mentioned in a No.10 press briefing. (Pictured right, being interviewed by BBC News on the issue).

Over the years the community has campaigned for action. As a result of these efforts has seen the Met Police Traffic Command implement ‘Operation Vision Zero’. This is a targeted Traffic Police operation to tackle dangerous and speeding driving – focusing on a few roads across London.

Twice TfL promised average speed cameras. The first time they failed to deliver, the second time they bowed to pressure from the Enfield Borough community, announcing they would install average speed cameras. However they only delivered on half the A10 – between the M25 and Southbury Road leaving the rest of the road up to the Great Cambridge Roundabout without average speed cameras.

Residents have had enough of the reckless and dangerous driving along the A10. The efforts of the Traffic Police have made a real difference. We have succeeded on campaigning for average speed cameras – but the Mayor and TfL have only half delivered – we will hold them to account to finish the job

Over the northbound bridge on the A10 saw one of the speed cameras removed. Local residents live in fear after a series of cars smashing into the front of their properties – and directly blame the removal of the enforcement camera. It is residents like this that the Mayor of London and TfL need to deliver for.

The issue has also been raised with the three local Members of Parliament, Enfield Council and the local GLA member.

As a local Councillor and resident I will continue to press for action until this issue is resolved – it is really great to have the support of Shaun Bailey for the campaign.

 The A10 through Enfield and Edmonton has seen some of the worst speeding offences in England and was even mentioned in a No.10 press briefing.

Over the years the community has campaigned for action. As a result of these efforts has seen the Met Police Traffic Command implement ‘Operation Vision Zero’. This is a targeted Traffic Police operation to tackle dangerous and speeding driving – focusing on a few roads across London.

Twice TfL promised average speed cameras. The first time they failed pulled out, the second time they bowed to pressure from the Enfield Borough community, announcing they would install average speed cameras. However, it has now emerged, that they have only installed cameras on half the A10 stretch – between Southbury Road junction and the M25, with nothing between the Great Cambridge Road roundabout and the Southbury Road roundabout.

When Councillor Hockney ran the Change.org petition the Mayor, in his response, promised a network of average speed cameras on the corridor. Whilst cameras have been installed, they only cover half the stretch of the A10, almost exclusively for Enfield and virtually leaving out Edmonton entirely.

Councillor James Hockney said, “Residents have had enough of the reckless and dangerous driving along the A10. The efforts of the Traffic Police have made a real difference. We have succeeded on campaigning for average speed cameras – but the Mayor and TfL have only half delivered in our view – we will hold them to account to finish the job. When the news originally broke, that they would install a network of average speed cameras along the corridor, I said I was over the moon, but as they have only half delivered, so I am only now over the crescent of the moon”.

Councillor Hockney went onto say, “Over the northbound bridge on the A10 saw one of the speed cameras removed. Local residents live in fear after a series of cars smashing into the front of their properties (pictured above) – and directly blame the removal of the enforcement camera. It is residents like this that the Mayor of London and TfL must listen to and act”.

The issue has been raised with the three local Members of Parliament, Enfield Council and the local GLA member.

This is an issue that we will continue to campaign on for the community.

Residents in Alberta Road have been calling for a comprehensive CPZ on the whole road for many years.

Last year a number of resident got together a petition to Enfield Council calling for action.

This passed the threshold on whether or not the Council gives the proposal further consideration.

Each year there is a set budget with funding from TfL. Normally the next step would be to follow up with a consultation exercise. The consultation should have  commenced in April 2020.

However, the pandemic has sadly affected funding – as it relies on TfL bus and tube fare fees. This leaves uncertainty for many residents in Alberta Road.

I will continue to be in touch with the Council and look forward to the time we can progress this matter that so many Alberta Road residents want to see resolved.

Local residents and the Friends of Bury Lodge Park have been calling for action to address a traffic island which has seen many accidents.

The accidents seem to peak during the summer when the sun is low in the sky combined with many cars parking alongside Bury Lodge Park.

I have raised this issue many times with the Council on the need for action and requested site visits – all to no avail so far. This matter has been escalated to a senior Director.

Last weekend saw a spate of accidents including one car reportedly being written off. Many are rightly concerned that it is only a matter of time before someone is injured or worse.

A nearby traffic island (on the same road) has a lit lamppost and blue arrow sign, I have asked why the traffic island does not.

Additionally I asked the Council to clear-up the accident damage (glass/plastic) on the road, oil and repair the traffic island.

Personally on one of the many site visits I have conducted, a car nearly lost car control right in front of me. It is a real concern that if matters are not resolved then we could see someone injured or worse.

Rest assured I will continue to press Enfield Council for action with the local community.

I am delighted that we now have a full time school crossing person at Waterbeach Primary School. For a number of years we have been without a crossing person, so this is great news. It also means that a further aim of the ‘Action for School Road Safety’ campaign has been achieved.

The Action for School Road safety key aims were;

(1) Recruit a Primary School crossing person ACHIEVED and put in place an actual crossing.
(2) Add the Primary School to a Safer Routes to School scheme.
(3) Return the Secondary School bus route (Landbeach to Cottenham) to the priority gritting route list. ACHIEVED
(4) Ensure parents concerns about the quality/standard of County Secondary School buses are addressed. ACHIEVED

The petition secured over 1,300 signatures on the paper and online petitions combined which shows the strong feeling on the issue. So it is fantastic that we are getting action step by step. Thank you to everyone that has supported the campaign.

Going before the decision makers at Shire Hall – ‘Action for School Road Safety’ campaign

Delighted to go before the Highways committee today at Cambridgeshire County Council. This was as a result of handing in the ‘Action for School Road Safety’ petition with over 1,300 signatures.

The campaign has received an incredible amount of community support, indeed in the 15 years I have been running community petitions, this was second only to the ‘No New Town’ petition campaign.

The four aims of the campaign are:

(1) Recruit a Primary School crossing person and put in place an actual crossing. (2) Add the Primary School to a Safer Routes to School scheme. (3) Return the Secondary School bus route (Landbeach to Cottenham) to the priority gritting route list.  (4) Ensure parents concerns about the quality/standard of County Secondary School buses are addressed.

Already the Secondary School bus route has been returned to the priority gritting route and new buses and coaches replacing the old ones. This has also meant more transport with seat belts. I took these County Council issues on in addition to my District related workload because I appreciate the need for action.

We have ensured that the need for a crossing person is advertised with the County Council willing to provide this on a job-share basis. I have, with others, pressed the need for a crossing at the Parish Highways Committee and this is being considered in a forward plan of projects.

Thank you to everyone that has supported the campaign – together we have already had a number of key successes and must keep this going.

Update on the Waterbeach Ward ‘Action for School Road Safety’ campaign.

Thank you to the 1,330 people that have signed the petition. Residents who have not signed, there is still the online version on this website; www.jameshockney.com/action-for-school-road-safety/

Following the community success on the gritting of the Cottenham Village College bus route (Landbeach-Cottenham) we are now working with Cambridgeshire County Council to address the issue of the lack of a Primary School crossing person. We now have an up to date advert. This is being rolled out in poster format to local shops and the community noticeboards. I have e-mailed this advert for inclusion in the next Beach News. In addition to asking the Primary School Head Teacher to share the advert via the internal e-mail to parents and staff. Thank you to local resident Christine Taylor​ for helping with this.

The campaign has four aims. One has been achieved as mention and we are now working step by step to meet the other challenges remaining.

I am delighted that we have already achieved one of the aims; to ensure that the School bus route is gritted on a priority basis.

This has been a great community achievement with parents and residents standing up and together we have held the County Council to account. Efforts have included media interviews, rolling the petition out into shops, petition sessions at the school, meetings, emails, FOI’s, telephone calls, promoting the campaign on social media, articles in local village publications and ‘In Touch’ newsletters.

But three issues remain and we will continue to press for the County Council to action these issues. Pictured right: Our local MP Lucy Frazer getting behind the campaign.

The campaign was launched after countless parents of primary and secondary schoolchildren in my community have contacted Cllr Hockney to raise their serious concerns. The aim of the petition campaign to press for action and to hold Cambridgeshire County Council to account.

Cllr Hockney has taken these County issues in addition to his District related
workload.

Pictured above: meeting parents and collecting signatures outside Waterbeach
School and below the petition in shops.

The campaign has four key aims;

(1) Recruit a Primary School crossing person and put in place an actual crossing.
(2) Add the Primary School to a Safer Routes to School scheme.
(3) Return the Secondary School bus route (Landbeach to Cottenham) to the priority gritting route list. Achieved!
(4) Ensure parents concerns about the quality/standard of County Secondary School buses are addressed.

We now have over 1,200 signatures which shows the strong feeling on the issue.

Today I was delighted to meet with many parents outside Waterbeach Primary School. With the help of Sarah Smart and my partner Urmi, we managed to collect over 100 signatures (this is in addition to the online petition below).

The aim of the petition campaign to press for action and to hold Cambridgeshire County Council to account. I am taking on these County issues in addition to my District related workload.
The campaign has four key aims;
(1) Recruit a Primary School crossing person and put in place an actual crossing.
(2) Add the Primary School to a Safer Routes to School scheme.
(3) Return the Secondary School bus route (Landbeach to Cottenham) to the priority gritting route list.
(4) Ensure parents concerns about the quality/standard of County Secondary School buses are addressed.

There was a great response from parents today really getting behind the campaign.

Please do sign the petition! [emailpetition id=”1″]

We have launched the ‘Action for School Road Safety’ petition campaign to press for action and to hold the County Council to account. Pictured with Parliamentary Candidate Lucy Frazer, who has joined the campaign.

The campaign will have four key aims;
(1) Recruit a Primary School crossing person and put in place an actual crossing.
(2) Add the Primary School to a Safer Routes to School scheme.
(3) Return the Secondary School bus route (Landbeach to Cottenham) to the priority gritting route list.
(4) Ensure parents concerns about the quality/standard of County Secondary School buses are addressed.

As a District Councillor I am taking these County issues on in addition to my District duties for the good of the local community. Thank you to Sarah Smart for helping behind the scenes to get this campaign launched!

Please do sign the petition! [emailpetition id=”1″]