Flashpoint reached in dispute over crossing

Fiona Howard • Published 20 May 2010 11:12 0 Comments

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UNWANTED and pointless - that's how many people in Kilcreggan view the new pedestrian crossing in the village.

A large delegation of villagers attended the meeting of the Cove and Kilcreggan Community Council to complain about the unwanted intrusion of flashing Belisha beacons and striped road markings into their village centre.

The delegation asked why the council considered the crossing a priority when they say they have no money and when there have been no accidents in the village to warrant it.

And to add insult to injury one of the poles was sited right in the middle of the narrow pavement so that people with prams or walking aids had to step out into the road to get round it.

However, they were told that the pole had been wrongly placed by the contractor and that it had now been moved to the edge of the pavement.

There were complaints about the lights flashing into the front rooms of the properties adjacent to the crossing and one objector claimed that the beacons flashed 88 times a minute.

Another claimed that while there had never been an accident in the village centre there was likely to be one now.

"I saw a driver come round the corner and have to slam on his brakes because there was someone on the crossing," said one of the delegation, "it is an accident waiting to happen."

They asked why the council had not put in traffic calming measures like sleeping policemen and "20's Plenty" signs instead of the crossing.

They were told that because the main road through the village is a "B" road the law prohibits the installation of such measures.

One of the objectors claimed that the beacons flashing had affected the value of the properties behind the crossing and another said that the flashing could be detected from her sister's house across the Clyde in Gourock.

Councillor Danny Kelly said that while a number of people did not like the crossing many others were pleased about it and it had been installed in the first place because so many people had asked for it over the years.

In response to questions about why the money had not been spent putting in the much-needed crossing in Rosneath, the group was told that until the derelict community centre building in Rosneath is demolished work on their crossing cannot go ahead but that it is in the pipeline.

And Councillor George Freeman told the meeting that the new crossing in Garelochhead had also been installed following 15 years of demands from local people and that some people were happy about it and some were unhappy.

Councillor Kelly also reminded the villagers that many years ago there had been a Zebra crossing in the village at the bottom of Temperance Brae and it was because it had been removed that he had begun to get demands for a new crossing.

"If there had been no such requests," he said, "I would never have agreed to it. It was out there at the recommendation of the roads department."

But one of the delegates said that he felt the villagers should have been consulted about it and also claimed that in fact hardly anyone used the new crossing.

Community council chairman Nick Davies told the meeting that he was aware that a number of people had written to Argyll and Bute Council about the crossing and they should wait for the responses.

He suggested that they come back to the meeting on June 8 and at that point the community council may decide to invite the roads department along to a meeting to discuss the issues around the crossing.

"Zebras should be kept in zoos," was the parting shot from one of the objectors as they left the meeting

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