Stock Parish Council has presented a ‘Stock Against Speeding’ petition containing over 2,100 signatures to Essex County Council.
Councillor John Pye handed the petition to Stock division Essex County Councillor Sue Dobson following a meeting to discuss the Parish Council’s efforts for road safety measures to be implemented in the village.
Cllr Pye and Cllr Rob Pritchard met with Cllr Dobson and Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning and Regeneration, Cllr Lee Scott, where the Parish Council’s nine Local Highways Panel (LHP) Applications were on the agenda.
With concerns being raised by villagers for a number of years, and in particular in a road safety survey commissioned by the Parish Council at the end of 2024, LHP Applications were made for the installation of average speed cameras in the High Street, a 20mph Speed Zone the replacement of the Zebra crossing outside Budgen’s with a Pelican crossing, the reduction in speed limits on roads around the village, and the relocation of the bus stop outside All Saints Church where one schoolboy was tragically killed and a second seriously injured in November 2023.
Despite the widespread support for the ‘Stock Against Speeding’ campaign, the Parish Council was told in 2024 that the results of speed surveys carried out by the LHP did not justify any of the Applications, despite thousands of vehicles being found to be breaking speed limits every week. The Parish Council was also informed that technical issues also mean the Pelican crossing cannot be installed on the High Street.
However, following a positive meeting with Cllr Dobson and Cllr Scott, and the presentation of the ‘Stock Against Speeding’ petition, which Cllr Dobson will present to Cllr Tom Cunningham, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Highways Maintenance and Sustainable Transport, the Parish Council is hopeful that the above Applications will be revisited and progress can be made for the benefit of all villagers and visitors to Stock.
The Parish Council would like to thank Tom Allison and Carol Lavender for their support for the ‘Stock Against Speeding’ campaign and for producing and collating the petition.
Meanwhile, vehicle activated signs displaying the speed limit and a warning message that will illuminate on the sign to remind drivers/riders to slow down have been delivered and will be installed in Stock Road and Mill Road in the near future.
The Parish Council will update villagers of further developments in due course.
