HL Deb 14 March 1967 vol 281 cc270-8

7.41 p.m.

LORD COLYTON rose to ask Her Majesty's Government why, having just built a new by-pass round Honiton, they have now imposed severe parking restrictions in the centre of the town. The noble Lord said: My Lords, before entering into the particulars of this matter, on which I apologise for detaining your Lordships at this late hour, I should first like to declare my interest. I have been a resident of this part of Devon for nearly thirty years, and Honiton is my shopping town. Therefore this matter has a certain personal importance for me. Secondly, I should like to dispel any notion that this Question has been in any way inspired by political motives. Owing to my absence overseas for much of the past six months, I was not aware of the new regulations until I read my local paper a week ago. I put down the Question the same day and, as it turned out, this was the only day on which it was possible for me to ask it before the Easter Recess. I would certainly have done so even had there been no by-election in Honiton, in which, in any case, I have taken no part.

As many of your Lordships are aware, Honiton has for many years been famous not only, as in the past, for its beautiful lace, but for being the town which had the worse traffic jams in the whole of the United Kingdom. On the A.30, queues of cars bumper to bumper, 17 or 18 miles long, have in summertime been nothing at all unusual. This was not, I may say, in any way due to the size of the Honiton main street, which is wide and spacious, but to the access routes to the town from the North-East and, again, from the South-West and the Exeter by-pass.

For many years there has been discussion and controversy about the building of a by-pass. Originally, many of the hoteliers and traders, as well as the Honiton Borough Council and the Chamber of Commerce, were opposed to this proposal as likely to take trade and tourists away from the town. By degrees the majority came round to the view that the removal of this heavy flow of traffic from the centre of the town would, in fact, be to their advantage. It was recognised that it would enable local residents to do their shopping in comfort, particularly on Saturday, which is our market day, and it would make it easier for visitors in transit to find somewhere to park in the town to enable them to do their shopping and have a meal.

At length, in the summer of 1964, the Ministry of Transport finally took the decision to build a by-pass around the town. It was only two miles long, but it entailed building two bridges and two underpasses, and it has cost £1 million. It took a long time to build, and it was finally opened only on December 12, 1966. However, during all this period, and indeed during all the years when I have lived near Honiton, there have never been any restrictions whatever in parking in Honiton High Street. This was partly due to the great width of the street, which was originally the site of the cattle market, but also to the good sense and patience of all those shopping there and of the Devon County Constabulary. Those traders, hotel-keepers and others who had been worried about the possibility of the damaging effects of the by-pass on trade in Honiton were encouraged by the thought that in future, and particularly in the summer and over weekends, it would at last be possible for residents of the area and tourists to do their shopping in comfort.

The completion of the by-pass was followed by a decision to install traffic lights in the centre of the town at the junction of New Street and High Street. Then, to everyone's astonishment, and, I may say, indignation, this has been followed by a set of regulations, which came into force on March 1, involving a complete parking ban, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, right in the centre of the town, 250 feet each side of the road junction at both sides of the road and at the widest point in the High Street. The effect of this ban is to deprive the town of any parking space in the main shopping centre, and also of the only hope of attracting the custom of those travellers on the A.30 who may still find their way through the town. No one would for a moment dispute the fact that there should be a normal parking ban of, say, 25 feet on the approach side of the lights. But nothing can justify the extension of a parking restriction to cover the whole of both sides of this wide street over a large distance.

One of the effects of this ban is that there can be no parking at any time outside the parish church, even on Sundays, when there is not very much traffic. When there were four weddings in that church on March 3, trouble started when waiting cars, belonging to all of these parties, had to be moved off immediately after dropping the brides, bridegrooms and guests, and had to return after the ceremonies to pick them up again. On the other side of the street, too, there is a leading garage, with a filling station, which is now covered by double yellow lines, with the result, so the proprietor informs me, that it is losing much of its local as well as its transient business.

A further serious drawback is that the new state of affairs was bound to cause bad feeling between, on the one hand, the motoring and the shopping public and, on the other, the local police and traffic wardens, with whom in the past there has always been the most excellent possible relationship. I was informed last weekend in Honiton that trouble is already being caused between people, who are doing their shopping and wishing to park in the centre of the town, and the police. Furthermore, I think there is even danger in the new arrangement, for with the removal of parked cars from either side of the street there is bound to be a risk of cars travelling in both directions in this wide area seeking to pass one another there, with consequent danger to themselves and to pedestrians.

There are also certain quite extraordinary anomalies. For example, Honiton still has a Saturday street market in the centre of the town which belongs to the Lord of the Manor, and which is let on a long lease to the Honiton Borough Council. Under the new arrangements the market will still continue, for even the Minister of Transport, apparently, cannot interfere with the Charter. Under the terms of the Charter stalls without wheels may still be erected on either side of the High Street. On the other hand, stalls which for convenience have in recent years been equipped with wheels so as to move them in and out more easily will now no longer be allowed.

The only explanation of this ban which has been given is that since the closure of the railway line from Sidmouth to Sidmouth Junction buses from Honiton station will have to operate through Honiton High Street, to link up with Sidmouth and other places now deprived of their rail services. I understand, however, that the local authorities were quite satisfied that there were other ways of funnelling these buses away from the railway station and away from the centre of the town. In any case, it now appears that they are being very little used, and that many of the services will shortly be discontinued. At all events, having regard to the very great diminution of through-traffic in Honiton, and the fact that there have always been buses belonging to the Western National and the Royal Blue line running through the town, this surely cannot be sufficient justification for this drastic change in a situation which has existed for all these years under far more difficult conditions.

The restrictions are bound to cause great inconvenience to the shopping public, as well as serious loss and hardship to local shopkeepers and hoteliers. I understand that the local authorities have urged that these vexatious and damaging regulations should be applied only for a trial period of three months. That would be better than nothing, but their advice has, I believe, been rejected. I myself have no doubt whatever that the right thing to do is for the Ministry to look at the whole matter again, and work out plans for diverting the new buses right away from the centre of the town, imposing permanent parking restrictions on only the minimum area of the High Street necessary for the proper operation of the traffic lights. The present situation really is too bad, and so unnecessary. It is a case of Whitehall bureaucracy gone mad. I hope that the noble Lord who is to reply, and who is not only always extremely courteous and helpful but also the very reverse of mad, will bring these facts to the attention of his right honourable friend, and will use his great influence to get the matter put right as soon as possible.

7.51 p.m.

THE EARL OF IDDESLEIGH

My Lords, I should like to support the noble Lord, Lord Colyton, in his very reasonable speech; and I would draw particular attention to the disadvantage that churchgoers suffer on Sundays. The Roman Catholic church which is centred on Honiton has a very wide area indeed, and a great many people can get to the church of their denomination only by the use of cars. That is a fact that should be recognised by the authorities.

In Exeter, my church is in a street in which parking is entirely prohibited on one side, at any rate, and limited on the other side, on weekdays; though on Sundays, thank goodness!, there is no restriction at all. I believe that no inconvenience at all would be caused by the complete withdrawal of parking restrictions in Honiton, as there has been a complete withdrawal of parking restrictions in Exeter, on Sundays. Honiton is very much dependent upon passing traffic. There are some excellent hotels and restaurants there, and the parking facilities, even on weekdays, are of great commercial assistance. I very much hope that that Her Majesty's Government will be able to give the noble Lord, Lord Colyton, a satisfactory reply.

7.53 p.m.

THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF PUBLIC BUILDING AND WORKS (LORD WINTERBOTTOM)

My Lords, I should be the last person to accuse the noble Lord, Lord Colyton, of making this a basis for a Party political attack. I am regarding this purely as a technical problem which he is bringing to the notice of my right honourable friend the Minister of Transport, through me. I think I should first give the case for the existing regulations before discussing their merits.

The case put by my right honourable friend is that the by-pass round Honiton was constructed for the purpose of diverting from Honiton much of the very heavy flow of through traffic, which the noble Lord mentioned, using the London to Penzance trunk road, the A.30. This is its primary aim, and I hope that this Easter will prove that it is functioning properly. This will be its first big test. But despite this draining-off process, the traffic circulating within Honiton remains substantial. Local traffic, including bus services, is augmented by vehicles using the A.35 Southampton trunk road.

Noble Lords may wonder why the bypass has not been utilised for the through traffic on the A.35 as well as that on the A.30. The answer is that although some A.35 traffic undoubtedly does use the bypass, the deliberate routing of all A.35 traffic in this way would involve, at this stage of the development of the trunk roads, an undesirable conflict with traffic on the A.30, with a definite collision hazard. We have in mind the possibility of constructing a slip road to facilitate the flow of traffic between the A.35 and the by-pass. We will have the situation very much under observation, and should congestion again become serious in Honiton we shall see whether the slip road should be given high priority. I hope the noble Lord will bear with me in taking what may seem to him a very circuitous route to the Question he has asked me. What I have said, however, is very relevant to the subject. As noble Lords will appreciate, we have in Honiton a situation where, despite the diversion of a great volume of through traffic, the residue of traffic necessarily using the High Street is still quite heavy and still requires some measure of control.

This brings me to consideration of the traffic position at the junction where the waiting restrictions referred to by noble Lords have been imposed. This is a staggered junction, and the High Street is joined at that point on both sides by narrow side roads. The side road to the south is used by buses, all of which are routed along the High Street and which therefore require to make the right-angled turn into, or from, the High Street. Until recently the junction had been uncontrolled except as required by the police. But by last year the Ministry of Transport realised that traffic light signals were urgently needed, particularly when it was decided to run extra buses to the station on the closure of the railway just over a week ago. The installation of traffic lights at this junction had the acquiescence of the police and the Honiton local authority, although it is fair to add that the council would have preferred to see the junction improved by realignment of the highways. This would cost some £30,000, and in our view it makes little sense to spend a sum of that order and to create the considerable disturbance to local interests involved if a solution costing a relatively nominal sum lay to hand. Certainly I think noble Lords will agree that traffic lights should be tried before embarking on highway realignment.

I hope I can now explain the need for the waiting restrictions. It is a matter of repeated experience by the Ministry's divisional road engineers that a highly desirable, almost essential, corollary to the installation of traffic light signals is the imposition of waiting restrictions for at least a short length along the arms of the junction. Noble Lords may know of light-controlled junctions where this is not so, and I should not wish at this stage to be too dogmatic or sweeping on this subject. But the evidence in favour of such restrictions is mounting. The question has even been raised for consideration by the Ministry of Transport whether waiting restrictions should not become mandatory at all junctions, whether light controlled or not.

The traffic situation at the Honiton crossroads makes the staggered junction a particularly strong candidate for the imposition of waiting restrictions. The frequent use by buses and other traffic of the southerly crossroad (which, as I have mentioned, is a narrow street) involves turning movements which can be safely accommodated only by providing a two-lane approach to the junction in the High Street. Turning traffic can thus be directed into one lane, leaving the other lane unimpeded for vehicles travelling straight on. The High Street, as the noble Lord has pointed out, is wide, but it requires little imagination to see that, even so, cars parked at the junction or its immediate approaches would create a hazard. Visibility for turning traffic would be impaired. There would also be the inevitable tendency for a certain type of motorist to pull away precipitately and without adequate warning from a parked position. This, as we all know, happens all too often.

I should now like to return to a general comment I offered at the beginning of my speech—namely, the hardship or inconvenience often caused by traffic restrictions to local interests and individuals—and I should like to relate this comment to the particular case of Honiton. The noble Lord has described the waiting restrictions as severe, but I think he made the point that he would accept some restrictions. What really divides us, therefore, is the amount of open space there should be at the traffic lights to permit the buses to turn into an open street without coming into conflict with oncoming traffic; that is to say, the actual length of the road at the area of the traffic lights which should be restricted by way of parking. This is a subject which I think one can only leave to the decision of the people with local experience. What I hope will happen is that the point made by the noble Lord will be studied by the Minister of Transport to see whether this 80-yard ban on either side of the traffic lights is larger than is actually necessary.

I have not the advantage of the noble Lord in knowing this town, but looking at the map it seems to me that the church (which is clearly marked on the map in my possession) is a substantial way from the actual crossroads—I should say, looking at it, that it is something like 50 to 60 yards. In any case, in my opinion it would not be as close to the crossroads as would cause hazard to the buses turn ing on occasions when weddings take place. Nevertheless, this is something on which I cannot pontificate. I can only bring it to the attention of my right honourable friend and see whether this particular length of road which is now controlled can be shrunk to a certain degree.

LORD COLYTON

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord. Before he sits down, may I ask whether he could also ask his right honourable friend whether she would consider diverting the buses right away from the High Street, out of the railway station through a different route, so that the whole problem of turning into the High Street would not arise at all?

LORD WINTERBOTTOM

My Lords, certainly I will do that. I will also bring to the attention of my right honourable friend the fact, pointed out by the noble Lord, that the frequency of this bus system may fall away because of lack of demand. This is obviously an important element in this calculation. That, I am afraid, is the only comfort I can offer to the noble Lord. I will see that his views are conveyed to the proper quarter.