Dangerous parking concern in Astley Village

24th of July, 2024

Residents and Parish Councillors have expressed their concerns over repeated dangerous parking in Astley Village.

A recent event held at the former Chorley Rugby Union and Football Club resulted in indiscriminate dangerous parking, where accidents occurred, and pedestrian safety was put at risk.

Event organisers did not request a traffic management plan to be implemented to improve attendees and residents’ safety. Despite members of the public contacting the Police, they were told there was no risk, despite accidents having already happened.

This is the latest in a series of incidents residents in the village are having to endure.

There are cars parked on cycle paths in the vicinity of Derian House on a daily basis. A previous request to investigate the introduction of Traffic Regulation Orders to address this has been ignored and to date, no enforcement action has been carried out by the Police.

The two Speed Indictor Display (SpID) devices have also been repeatedly vandalized and one no longer works.

Finally, concerns over visibility at the junctions of Wymundsley, Judeland, Broadfields and Buckshaw Hall Close have been raised regularly. The vegetation overgrowth also needs to be addressed. Lancashire County Council have previously said the visibility splays meet the necessary safety standards. Residents report that they find it difficult to leave these junctions safely due to lack of visibility and speeding cars.

Residents and Parish Councillors would like to see action taken to address the dangerous parking and speeding in the village to improve safety of members of the public.

At the Parish Council Meeting on 3 July 2024 it was agreed:

(1) That the Parish Clerk be requested to write to the following making them aware of the concerns regarding the impact caused by the inconsiderate motorists attending events held at the former Chorley Rugby Union and Football Club, Brookfields on Sunday 5 May 2024:

The Leader of Lancashire County Council (County Councillor Williamson).
The Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Lancashire County Council (County Councillor Swarbrick).
The Member of Parliament for Chorley (Rt Hon Sir Lindsey Hoyle MP).
The Leader of Chorley Borough Council (Councillor Alistair Bradley).
The Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary (Sacha Hatchett).
The Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner (Clive Grunshaw).

(2) The Parish Council expresses its concern that:

Members of the public that had telephoned the Police had been told that there was no risk to pedestrians and other motorists despite a number of accidents having occurred.
The indiscriminate dangerous parking taking place on a daily basis throughout the village but especially in the vicinity of Derian House, including parked cars on the cycle paths throughout the village.
The two Radar Speed Signs installed on Chancery Road by the Parish Council had been repeatedly vandalised.
There was no Traffic Management Plan in place for events held at the former Chorley Rugby Union and Football Club, Brookfields.
Lancashire County Council had previously indicated that the visibility splays at the junction of Wymundsley and Chancery Road met the necessary safety standards. There were similar concerns at the junctions at Judeland, Broadfields and Buckshaw Hall Close.
The vegetation overgrowth at the above junctions needed to be addressed to maximise the available visibility to this recommended distance.
The previous request to investigate the introduction of Traffic Regulation Orders to address the indiscriminate parking taking place on a daily basis throughout the village but especially in the vicinity of Derian House, including parked cars on the cycle paths throughout the village had been ignored including enforcement action by the Police.

(3) That representatives from Lancashire County Council, Chorley Borough Council and the Lancashire Constabulary be invited to attend the next meeting of the Parish Council on Wednesday 4 September 2024 to discuss the Parish Council’s concerns.

(4) That the Chair of the Parish Council be requested to issue a press release regarding the Parish Council’s concerns relating to indiscriminate dangerous parking taking place in the village.