LLANDDEWI VELFREY COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Cartrefle

Llanddewi Velfrey

Narberth

Pembrokeshire

SA67 8UR

William Powell AM

Chair Petitions Committee

Ty Hywel, Cardiff Bay

CF99 1NA

19.1.13

Dear Mr Powell

Re: Petition submitted by Llanddewi Velfry Community Council    P-03-240 to  

            be discussed at your next meeting

Prior to your last meeting I wrote again regarding  the serious safety issues for pedestrians in Llanddewi Velfrey and the excessive delays  in achieving a response to our petition submitted 3 years ago. While we appreciate that plans are being made for a bypass for Llanddewi Velfrey as part of the Welsh Government’s Transport Plan, the following issues nevertheless need to be addressed as a matter of urgency to safeguard residents in this community adjacent to the A40. They are:

· unacceptably narrow pavements adjacent to a busy trunk road

·  inadequate crossing facilities

· vehicles travelling at unsafe and excessive speeds through a residential area

 During your last meeting, Joyce Watson AM offered to make a site visit to provide  

 your committee with more information. She referred to our situation as ‘an   

 interesting case’  by which we hope she means it is worthy of attention.  As Clerk I  

 was asked to write to Ms Watson to invite her to attend a site meeting  which I did  

 through an email in mid November. I regret to say that I have had no reply. We  

 would welcome Ms Watson to meet representatives of the Community  Council for a   

 brief discussion and to see, at close quarters, the main issues of  concern.

With reference to the letter from the Minister, Mr Carl Sargeant, he said that he is looking at specific traffic calming measures and that his department will ’monitor this section of the A40.... in order to review and proactively manage safety issues’? We would ask you to consider two points:

· The problems outlined above have already been investigated many times and were acknowledged by the former Deputy Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones, who himself made a site visit, and said that something definitely needed to be done.

· Creation of a 50mph buffer zone to the west of the village, suggested by Mr Sargeant, has already been discounted by the Trunk Road Agency as it can only be created by shortening the existing 40mph zone owing to the surrounding topography.

We appreciate that in the current economic climate there are many demands on budgets, but this is a genuinely serious issue and we have been waiting for action for the past 3 years. Angela Burns AM and Rebecca Evans AM have offered their support, but we would very much appreciate a meeting with Ms Watson as both a member of the Petitions Committee and as someone with local knowledge.

Yours sincerely

Lynda Hill

Clerk to the Community Council