Road safety campaigners demand to attend meeting

Feb 19 2009 By Vicki Eltis

Road safety campaigners outside Cleeves School

Parents campaigning for road safety outside a Weybridge school have hit out at moves by Surrey County Council to cap the number of people who can attend a cruical public meeting.

CRISIS - Cross the Road in Safety- was set up in September 2008, to campaign for a safe crossing incorporating traffic calming and parking restrictions by Cleves School in Oatlands Avenue, Weybridge.

At December's committee meeting members of the group handed a petition of 1,321 names to councillors and a report is due to be heard at the next Elmbridge Local Committee meeting on Monday March 9.

However, a local committee and partnership officer emailed CRISIS chairman Graham Winton earlier this month to advise him of the capacity restrictions due to disruption which occurred at the last meeting.

Surrey councty council had hired committee rooms 4 and 5 at the Civic Centre, in Esher, for the meeting at a capacity of only 40, but this figure also includes councillors and officers.

Campaign spokeswoman Karin Peluso, a resident of Conifers, said: "There wasn't a disruption it was a peaceful demonstration and no one got carted off in a police car. If councillors don't move it to the main council chamber then they'll probably be more of a disuruption. We are not prepared to be shoved into a broom cupboard!

"They should allow all people concerned with this case to listen to the outcome of the report, some residents are even taking time off work to come along."

"It's not just our group there are other people with other petitions too."

Despite the council boasting on its website that the committee meetings are a chance to bring local democracy to local people, and which all Elmbridge residents can attend, the council will still hold it in the committee rooms even though Mr Winton requested it be held in the Council Chamber.

A spokeswoman at Surrey Council said: "We did inquire about using the council chamber and we were told it wasn't available. When we were told that it was available we had already advertised it as being in the committee rooms so decided to keep it as that. We don't normally get that many people attending. It is not a public meeting it's a meeting in public."