Petition ignored as Tolworth greenway plans finally pushed through (From Surrey Comet)

Petition ignored as Tolworth greenway plans finally pushed through

8:00am Tuesday 21st February 2012 in Top stories By Tom Barnes

Kingston Council has been accused of ignoring public opinion after pushing ahead with plans to build a green walkway down the middle of a busy road.

Tory councillors failed in calls for a review of the controversial scheme which will see safety barriers torn down on Tolworth Broadway.

The plan was approved at a neighbourhood meeting last month.

But despite collecting nearly 500 signatures from residents, the opposition councillors failed to convince a scrutiny panel on Thursday evening to delay the scheme, losing the vote 5-4.

Councillor Vicki Harris told the committee: "It is innovative and different and because of that it is understandable that people have concerns but we have been looking at this project for over two years now.

"I cannot think of another scheme that has had more consultation and been more rigorously scrutinised for safety and other issues such as traffic congestion than this one, not just by us but by Transport for London.

"Because of that I am confident that we have made the right decision."

The four and half hour meeting saw panel members quiz officers from Kingston Council and Transport for London (TfL), which is partly funding the £2.6m scheme, on issues such as safety and traffic congestion.

Experts managed to convince the Lib Dem controlled panel that the "shared space" traffic proposals would encourage drivers, cyclist and pedestrians to exists harmoniously on the A3 feeder road.

However panel chair and Tory leader Howard Jones remained unconvinced, describing the scheme as a "Lib Dem vanity project" that could end up with people being killed.

Mr Jones pointed to an independent report carried out in December last year that identified a risk of collision between cyclist and pedestrians.

He also called for the vote to be recorded so that "it would be known who was responsible for the Tolworth Greenway"

After the meeting Bridgette Walker, a Ewell Road resident invited as a witness for the panel, angrily accused the panel of ignoring residents' concerns and the two parties of "trying to score points off one another"

She said: "The people have spoken yet no one has bothered to listen to us. I have sat for well over four hours listening to them squabble and trying to score points off one another.

"The scrutiny panel does not work. To me scrutiny is you ask detailed question like 'is it going to cause congestion, is it going to cause an accident' but that was not what happened.

"I always thought councillors were there for residents.

"Ed Davey the new minister for energy should be made to sit in the traffic and see how much energy that wastes."

Work is due to begin in early April in the hope it will be completed in time for this year’s Olympics.