Welcoming in a New Year for Lytchett Matravers Parish Council
As we welcome in the new year, we aim to get moving on the projects that we have been working on across 2023. The big projects remain the highways-based ones, including the Wareham Road crossing, High Street crossing, Huntick Road cycle path and 20mph zone.
Wareham Road Crossing:
There has been lots of discussion and lobbying of Dorset Council over the last few years to try and formulate a plan to deal with the serious issues of traffic on Wareham Road. We are hoping that this is reaching a conclusion and that Dorset Council will be launching a consultation into a proposed solution for a Wareham Road crossing in the coming months. We will send out further details of this as soon as we know more.
20-mph zone for the centre of the village:
To continue to help with improving road safety around the village we have been pursuing the idea of introducing a 20-mph zone along the key central roads, including Wareham Road.
One of the first stages was to undertake a traffic monitoring study. Traffic volumes and speeds were tracked at 4 key locations around the village for 7 days in November. This included two sites on Wareham Road, High Street and Huntick Road by Rozalia Meadow. The average speed recorded on these key roads was around 30 mph for the seven days. However, for all averages, there are highs and lows, and it was alarming that some drivers were exceeding 55mph on these sections between 7-9am – the core work and school run times.
The next stage is to put this data together with the other information, including evidence of public support, and accident reports, both official and those that we might know of locally. Once the application has been submitted it will be up to Dorset Council to assess whether the area is suitable to be considered for a change in speed limit; so there are still many stages to go through.
To support our application, we will be launching a survey in January to collect more data, and if you have an opinion on this or would like to contribute to the evidence collection, please get in touch.
High Street Crossing:
The safer centre plans also include creating a High Street crossing point between the Library and the Recreation ground lower car park as shown in the drawings below. This is likely to include “build-outs” from the Library side kerb, and installing a raised crossing surface to improve safety. In addition, it is likely that this would require introducing some parking restrictions on either side of the crossing.
It would not be a formal Zebra crossing as it would not be a DC Highways project. Instead, this would be funded directly by LMPC costing around £75,000.
Cycle Path:
The final project in this group is the long-discussed Huntick Road cycle path. The key to this is finding a safe and sustainable way for young adults to travel between the village and the senior school in Lytchett Minster. Stage 1 of this project was completed by the introduction of the extended wide path leading from the crossroads to Rozalia Meadow.
LMPC is now looking to fund stage 2, with a path leading from Rozalia Meadow to Jubilee Walk. This would extend the existing path and be designed to accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists. It would be useful to know if people would find this extension useful and whether it represents a good investment. It is likely to cost around £35,000.
The final stage of this plan would be for DC Highways to approve and fund a cycle path from Jubilee Walk, down Huntick Road to Lytchett Minster at the junction with Post Green Road. This is estimated to cost more than £1m.
As with all these projects, we are keen to know if you support these ideas and think that they represent good use of funds and will be including this in our survey.
If you think funds should be invested differently in other projects that we have not considered please complete drop us a line via our web form or email us with your ideas, concerns and considerations at lytchettmatravers@dorset-aptc.gov.uk
Sports Pavilion
We have prepared designs for a new storage area between the Scout Hut and Pavilion. This features a new accessible entrance with a wider terrace, and on the roadside, a new entrance to the Scout Hut and outdoor table tennis area. It is proposed therefore to split the works into 4x separate works packages as follows:-
1…Heat Pump Compound/Pavilion entrance. The heat pump has recently been damaged by a vehicle reversing into the side of the building. This was unexpected, as it is protected by a strong mesh cage, but this has proved to be inadequate. Therefore, it is necessary to put up a more secure fence in the form of a compound that will encompass the area around the pavilion entrance. This will also improve the doorway and provide a storage area for bins.- 2… Sports Equipment Store. The idea here is to form a stand-alone building between the sports pavilion and scout hut to house the equipment. It will be a straightforward structural frame with lightweight, non-insulated cladding (very similar to industrial or agricultural sheds). The posts and roof could be either timber or steel, and we will ask contractors to make their recommendations when they tender for the work.
- 3A… Table Tennis. This will be comprised of raised-level platforms with guard railings along the edges. We will then install two concrete table tennis units, which will be craned into place.
- 3B… Terrace. This has been designed to improve the access to the front entrance to the Sports pavilion, making it wider and safer, particularly when the main doors are open.
We will be seeking quotes for this work over the next few months and hope to transform the area by the early Summer.
Youth Club
After a year of planning and work, plus a huge amount of volunteer time, we are looking at opening the Youth Hall by the end of January, after the beginning of the Spring term. Please keep an eye out around the village and on social media and our website for details of what’s on and session times.
Remembrance Day wreaths
In line with the policy that we brought in last year, we will be clearing away any wreaths that remain around the monument at the end of the first week of January. The wreaths look resplendent in November, but the weather does take its toll on them, and they can become quite a mess by the end of winter. We will store them for one month in case anyone wishes to collect their wreath, whether for sentimental or other reasons. Please contact the Parish Clerk if you would like to collect your wreath.
Getting involved
So, over the next year, we have lots of project ideas that need your input. We want to know what your priorities, concerns, and ideas are. Tell us please, because we really want your input and feedback whilst we are developing plans – not when it is all over and we can’t change anything.
The January F&GP will be at 7pm on Wednesday 10th in the Sports Pavilion. The Full Council meeting on 24th will commence at 7:30pm in the Village Hall. Agendas are published online on the preceding Friday. Report packs are available on request from the Parish Clerk the preceding Tuesday, and minutes of the meeting are available online about one month later. All Parish Council meetings start with a Public Participation session, and everybody is welcome. Please do come and have your say, on any subject.
Here’s to a happy and productive 2024!
Alf Bush,
Chair, Lytchett Matravers Parish Council