Traffic calming and road safety around Hadleigh Road and East Bergholt Primary School were discussed again at the recent Parish Council meeting following concerns raised by residents.

Improving safety in this area remains an important objective for the Parish Council.

Following extensive public consultation on the village’s road safety issues a majority of residents identified improvements to the B1070, particularly near the High School, as the highest priority.

Hadleigh Road, including traffic calming and a potential 20mph zone, were identified in the second group of priorities. The Parish Council has been concentrating on the B1070 road safety improvements but we have found it difficult to make progress with SCC Highways who are the responsible body. We therefore employed our own consultants to create traffic calming designs along the B1070. Suffolk Highways wrote to us at the beginning of July to accept the Parish Council’s proposals. As Suffolk County Council does not currently provide funding for our local traffic schemes, projects have to be progressed sequentially using Parish Council resources. Once funding is identified and the B1070 project is sufficiently advanced, the Parish Council intends to move forward with developing detailed designs and costings for the Hadleigh Road improvements.

In the meantime, we are also investigating the opportunities presented by Suffolk County Council’s new policy on 20mph zones, which may provide an additional route to improving safety around the Primary School and surrounding residential areas. Further updates will be provided as this work progresses.