Time to Bang Heads Together

12.07.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 3rd Jun 2008

Here is an interesting situation that has arisen on the boundaries of the boroughs of Redbridge and Waltham Forest but is contained within the constituency of Chingford and Woodford Green.

In response to concerns, first voiced over 5 years ago, about safety for pedestrians in general and, in particular, schoolchildren attending Waltham Forest's Woodford Green Primary School, Redbridge Council devised a traffic management scheme whereby Elm Grove would be one way leading into High Elms and Mill Lane would be one way leading into the Square and High Elms. All traffic would exit via Sunset Avenue and Links Road. Waltham Forest officers had agreed the scheme and Redbridge Area 2 Councillors gave it the go-ahead earlier this year. Now Waltham Forest residents in Elm Grove have objected to the proposals and are asking for the one way system to be reversed ie Elm Grove would be one way exiting into Chingford Lane.

Apart from the difficulties this would give service vehicles, it would also create considerably greater congestion during the school run as parents try to gain access to High Elms from two very narrow roads leading off the High Road. If they wanted to drop their child off at the school gates they would still have to exit via Sunset Avenue and Links Road. It is disappointing that after all this time there is no resolution to this situation but, with some justification, Redbridge officers and councillors are strongly resisting this alternative proposal.

Instead of "shouting" at each other from across the borders, it really is time for Waltham Forest councillors of Hatch End, highways officers and the residents affected to meet with their counterparts in Monkhams ward in Redbridge and hammer this out. There are wider technical traffic movement issues involved in this matter as well as the more emotive concerns regarding volume and noise. However, the underlying problem will not go away and, indeed, becomes more urgent by the day. It should not be that difficult for each side to see the perspective of the other and together devise an acceptable solution.