Category: News

Croydon Council have over-ridden one aspect of our suggestion and have required the HGVs to go up the length of Welcomes Road to Hayes Lane, despite major safety concerns about large vehicles turning at the poorly sighted junction. Their ruling is to keep the one-way approach, but in reverse to our original proposal. The solution imposed on us is as follows:

1. All HGV traffic to enter the WURA zone at the Railway Station/Kenley Lane end of Welcomes Road.

2. All HGV traffic to exit at the Hayes Lane end .

3. No HGV traffic to use Zig Zag Road in any circumstances including for turning round.

This approach at least still ensures that HGVs do not meet on Welcomes Road and should not try to turn round on the road or at junctions with any of the side roads.

All developers have been informed of this policy and should be adhering to it under the Construction & Logistics Plan for each site. Please notify a Committee member if you see any HGVs breaking these rules, making sure you take a note of the date and time, the company named on the HGV and ideally the site for which it was working.

Following a Committee meeting on January 20th it was decided that for safety reasons and to reduce the stress on the people living and walking in Welcomes Road developers/builders have been asked that site traffic (HGVs) be directed to travel in one direction only as follows:-

1. All HGV traffic to enter the WURA zone via the Abbotts Lane/Uplands Road junction turning left at the junction with Welcomes Road.

2. All HGV traffic to exit at the Railway Station/Kenley Lane end of Welcomes Road.

3. HGVs must not  enter Welcomes Road at the Hayes Lane end under any circumstances.

4. No HGV traffic to use Zig Zag Road in any circumstances including for turning round.

HGV traffic to sites in the Focused Intensification Zone (Limit of zone Nos 9 and 12 Welcomes Road) may use the Station end of Welcomes Road to enter and exit.

We appreciate that this measure will increase HGV traffic in Uplands Road and we apologise for this. However there have been  cases of HGVs meeting in Welcomes Road and being unable to pass in the road, resulting in them having to reverse long distances, a very hazardous manoeuvre for other road users and effectively blocking the road. The one-way approach should also mean that HGVs do not try to turn round on the road or at junctions with any of the side roads.

All developers have been informed of this policy and should be adhering to it under the Construction & Logistics Plan for each site. Please notify a Committee member if you see any HGVs breaking these rules, making sure you take a note of the date and time, the company named on the HGV and ideally the site for which it was working.

WURA members may not be aware that there has been a Commons Land Application made on the land around the Betts Mead recreation area, bordering Hayes Lane at the top of Welcomes Road and also at the back along Old Lodge Lane (ref 19/05499/CLA, viewable on the Croydon Planning Register)

KENDRA have put together the information below and we encourage anyone who has used the land for dog walking and recreation to submit a response, especially those who have used the land for 20 years or more. Critical to the response is the fact that the wider land has been used, not just the paths for direct access through it. This includes access directly off the road when jumping out of the way of passing vehicles on Hayes Lane!

What does this Notice mean?

Local residents have used, unhindered, the blue, pink and green land to stroll, walk dogs, throw snowballs and other miscellaneous pastimes for many years. This Notice would, in essence, bring to an end the period of ‘use by right’ of this land by local residents. The Notice effectively ‘stops the clock’ on residents reaching the ’20-year use rule’ which enables communities to register such land as a Village or Town Green and/or establish new official footpaths. The Notice does not prevent future Rights being established by way of the ‘20-year use rule’ – but it ‘resets the clock’, and the ability to accrue time restarts from 2020 and accrues until such time as a further Notice/Deposit is made. If land has already been subject to ‘use by right’ for over 20 years before the date of the Notice then residents have the opportunity to make representations to the Council to that affect and may, if successful, retain the option to make an application to have footpaths officially recorded and/or land registered as a Town or Village Green.

What action can individuals take?

If you are concerned about this issue and the potential loss of paths/amenity, then please comment on the Notice to Croydon Council (Deadline 17th Feb).

Options are:

1) Preferred by KENDRA – Write your comments in an email or letter attached to an email. Ensure that you clearly refer to application 19/05499/CLA. Email to development.management@croydon.gov.uk

2) Write a letter (again clearly refer to Ref 19/05499/CLA) and post it to Development Management, Place Department, 6th Floor, Bernard Weatherill House, 8 Mint Walk, Croydon CR0 1EA.

3) Go online to publicaccess3.croydon.gov.uk. Enter 19/05499/CLA into the search box and press enter Select the “Comments” tab and make your comments

You should explain how you have used the land and for what period of time – possible uses could be hiking, dog walking, den building, sledging, snowballing, collecting timber, maintaining fallen trees/paths, blackberrying, litter picking, enjoying/photographing wildlife, walking to School/station/buses, BMXing, mountain biking etc.

You do not have to have personally used the land for 20 years, it is the chain of community use that is important, but if you have used it for more than 20 years or you grew up in Kenley and played there as a child in the 70’s/80’s/90’s please make that clear. As a community we undoubtedly know more about the historic use of this land than the current owners and this is our opportunity to make our enjoyment of this land known to the Local Authority.

For full information please read the full Information Note produced by KENDRA.

Please note that demolition of the bungalow at 32 Welcomes Road is scheduled for late this week or the week commencing 9th December 2019.

Under current arrangements, HGV traffic is to enter Welcomes Road at the Station end and exit the same way having reversed up Welcomes Road to reach the site. This approach is currently being reviewed to try to remove the need for reversing and also to ensure that trucks do not need to turn round. An update will be posted once agreement with the developers has been reached.

The code of practice requires that site traffic must not use the road at peak times (i.e after 10.00 hrs and before 15.00hrs) and hard copies of the site management arrangements will be provided to the immediate neighbours so they know what to expect from the builders, Goldstone Homes (contact details provided in email to members). The positioning of HGVs when at the site should be such that traffic can get past.

I hope all goes well for the builders and the neighbours. Unfortunately some disruption is inevitable with these jobs so please be patient.

Over the winter our contractors Allfreys may also be installing some kerbing in the same area.

It is possible that work will also be commencing soon on 42 Welcomes Road but the builders/developers have yet to contact the Association to complete formalities.