COUNCILLORS have called on the borough’s highway chief to resign after an accident injured a lorry driver.
On Wednesday lunchtime, two lorries were involved in a collision on Keephatch Road in Norreys. It is understood that one lorry slowed down to let the other pass but the other is alleged to have carried on.
The two vehicles’ wing mirrors are said to have clipped and one flew through the other’s window, causing cuts and injuries to one driver who was treated at the scene for minor injuries. Both police and ambulance crews attended the scene.
The incident has prompted calls from two town councillors for the resignation of the borough’s planning and highways chief, councillor John Kaiser.
Cllr Andrew Waters told The Wokingham Paper: “We’ve had to wait for this accident to happen. We’ve been calling for the borough council to place traffic restrictions on the road. It’s been ignored by Cllr Kaiser and his department.”
Together with fellow Norreys East councillor Colin George, the pair have been pressing the borough to stop construction traffic from using Keephatch Road as a cut through. They say that they are concerned that a serious accident could occur, especially as the road is used by children attending Keep Hatch Primary School and St Crispin’s.
“We’ve been campaigning for a traffic restriction order so heavy goods vehicles are not allowed to use this road. It is only 5.1m wide and vehicles are 2.6m wide,” said Cllr Waters.
Cllr George said he was on the scene of Wednesday’s accident and praised the efforts of Police to manage traffic. He also spoke to other lorry drivers using Keephatch Road and said that one told him he was working on a Twyford development and Norreys was a short cut.
“We’re being used as a rat run for other building sites,” he added.
The councillors say they have met with Wokingham Borough Council but their concerns have been dismissed.
Cllr Waters said: “As town councillors, we’re pretty fed up of not being listened to. Residents are screaming at us. We’re shouting as loud as we can for them.
“We’ve persistently tried to get the Council to do something about it, everything has been pooh-poohed and shouted down.
“The planning and highways department is not fit for purpose and we think it’s about time Cllr Kaiser should resign.”
Wokingham Borough Council’s Director of Environment Heather Thwaites said: “We cannot speculate on the causes of this reported traffic incident and await the outcome of any formal police report.
“At the moment it is not clear that either of the vehicles involved was from a local construction site, but we have asked site managers to investigate and also to remind drivers to adhere to the approved Construction Management Plans for each development and to ensure that they drive in accordance with the law.
“Safety concerns are vital when planning for construction traffic and, following a meeting with residents in February, we have surveyed local roads, undertaken additional speed surveys and are actively looking at a one-way access option for construction traffic only that we believe is in line with local preference.
“We cannot ban HGVs from Keephatch Road as it forms part of a bus route and an established access route for local businesses – whose vehicles would be exempt from any Traffic Regulation Order made, as would construction vehicles which would be locally accessing a site.
“However, we are carrying out further safety assessments on the road that may include putting some new signs to warn drivers of the short narrower sections of Keephatch Road and the cutting back of vegetation along the side of the road.”
Speaking to The Wokingham Paper, Cllr John Kaiser, Executive Member for Planning and Highways at Wokingham Borough Council, has hit back at his critics.
He said that he was mystified at the town councillors criticisms and didn’t understand it.
Speaking to The Wokingham Paper he said: “I’m disappointed, you know my commitment to supporting residents and trying to get the best outcome for people across the borough.
“I’m disappointed in the sense that I’m not just a borough councillor, I’m also a parish councillor.
“My view is that I’m an elected member I do the very best within what the officers tell me, it’s their responsibility if they tell me it’s safe, what they’ve done is legal and meet all laws and criteria, it’s not really my position to question that.”
Cllr Kaiser added that after the meeting with the town councillors, a member of the highways team had been working on suggestions to make Keephatch Lane one way.
“He has been working on it as far as I know,” he said.
Cllr Kaiser added: “I cannot be held accountable for every accident and everyone that’s injured on the roads in the borough, that’s just unreasonable.”
