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July 2013
There are approx. 4 newsletters published each year.
 

The July 2013 BMRA Newsletter

A warm welcome to new residents of Badgers Mount. The Residents Association produces newsletters four times per year and we hope you find these useful. Our website (address above) has a wealth of information about our community and its surrounds.
 

COMMITTEE NEWS

The Association held its Annual General Meeting in June and the following were elected:

Officers -
Chairperson: Tracey McCartney (534471), Vice-Chairperson: Alistair Dunlop (534459), Secretary: position vacant and Treasurer: Gordon Plumb (534279).

Committee members -
Adrienne Dunlop (534459), Nicola Walker (534392), Eric Raven (535171), John Ralston (533412), David Woledge (534338) and Brian Marston.

As you will see above, no-one was elected to the position of secretary, and that decision was deferred to the first meeting of the new committee. At that meeting, no-one volunteered to take on this role and it was decided that Tracey should continue as secretary as she has for the last 15 years. After some discussion, David Woledge was elected to the chairperson’s position.

We would like to thank all those who retired at the AGM for the work they have put in during their time on the committee.

As indicated in our last newsletter, several changes were proposed to be made to the Association Constitution at the AGM. However, it was decided by the residents present that as the majority of the committee were not seeking re-election these should not be adopted.

The new committee will put forward their proposed amendments once again at next year’s AGM.

ROAD SAFETY CAMPAIGN      BMRA Road Safety

We had been assured that some of the work to be carried out in relation to safety improvements on the Orpington Bypass and Old London Road would be commenced “in the summer”. However, to date these have yet to begin. Roger Gough, our Kent County Councillor advised on 25.07.13 that the Police have now agreed to a reduction in the speed limit on the Bypass to 50 mph. The very first part of the Orpington by-pass coming from Hewitts roundabout will remain at national speed limit. However, from near the telephone mast some 230 metres North West of Badgers Road, the limit will come down to 50 mph. It will remain the same all the way to Polhill; in other words, the speed limit will not increase again after the Shacklands Road roundabout. This will have to be approved by the Joint Transportation Board at either their September or December meetings.

The proposed island on the Orpington Bypass where footpath SR8 crosses the road will probably be delayed until 2014 as the road needs to be widened and this will be done in conjunction with the footpath proposed for the east side of the Bypass.

In Old London Road, speed limit roundels will be painted in shortly in 12 or 13 places along the road aligned with repeater signs. There will also be a red patch in the road to indicate the start of the speed limit at the Shacklands Road roundabout end. It is hoped that there will be a similar patch painted in at the other end of the road just beyond the boundary of Badgers Mount - but since this is where the road meets the A21, Roger Gough advises it would have to be dovetailed with any works carried out there by the Highways Agency.

Similar signs and speed roundels will be installed on the Orpington Bypass to coincide with the introduction of the new speed limit.

We have also recently asked Kent Highways to cut back the bushes on the Orpington Bypass close to footpath SR8 (leading down from Highland Road to the Bypass) as they are obscuring the view of traffic for those crossing the road at this point. Hopefully, this work will be carried out very shortly.

FORMER CHELSFIELD AMMUNITION DEPOT

At the AGM residents were informed that our Badgers Mount Defence sub-committee had recently been advised by our MP, Michael Fallon that he had met with Mr Conway. Mr Fallon explained that Mr Conway has emphasised that his company only intends to use the ex-MOD site for storage and distribution of materials.

For those who contributed to the Fighting Fund, you can rest assured that this is accounted for separately within the BMRA funds and will only ever be used to take action in relation to unwelcome development at the site.

USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS CARD

Way back in 2006 (!) the community Neighbourhood Watch team and the BMRA produced an A5 information sheet of useful telephone numbers (Police, Hospitals etc). Some of these numbers have now changed. In particular, the Police should now be contacted on 101 (non-emergency calls) and 999 (emergency calls) NOT 01732 740055 as the card states as this is now a private telephone number. We are asking the current NHW team to consider updating and re-issuing the card to all residents. If you still have your card please update the Police contact details accordingly.

FOOTPATHS

We have recently written to ask KCC’s Footpaths Section if the overgrown weeds on footpath SR8 could be removed to make this more accessible. We are taking a look at the other footpaths too and will report to KCC if these need clearing too.

BOLLARDS & OBSTRUCTIONS ON THE VERGES

Residents on the Orpington Bypass will recall that some years ago KCC wrote to all properties advising that if there were an accident and damage or injury was caused by the various bollards, posts etc on the verge, they could be personally liable for such damage or injury. In recent months there has again been a proliferation of such objects which are both unsightly and potentially hazardous. Some are short with pointed tops adjacent to the footpath. If a pedestrian tripped and fell onto one of them, a serious injury could result. We understand that some have been placed to prevent delivery drivers using the verge as an additional traffic lane while not caring about the damage they are causing to the verge, but we would ask residents to consider the potential damage that could be result, let alone the general unsightly appearance which they create.

CONDOLENCES

And last but by no means least, we send our sincere condolences to the families of residents who have passed away recently including Edna Smith, Daphne Izatt and Helen Turner. Helen was a former BMRA Committee member and served the refreshments at weekly coffee mornings. They will be sadly missed.

BMRA CONTACT DETAILS

Full contact details on the BMRA Committee page.

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