I FEEL compelled to write to you today following an incident on Redhouse Way recently involving my wife and children. She had a collision on a junction with another vehicle - not serious I might add, but enough to push me into writing. I am sure that this is not the first time you have heard of issues concerning this particular road, but being so closely involved in one, paints a different picture to me. To make matters more interesting, the other car was a police car on patrol on the estate - unsighted on a junction where parked cars obscured any opportunity to exit a junction with a reasonable degree of safety.

The concern I would like to raise here is not as much as to who was at fault, or even any issue directly with those who live and park on Redhouse Way itself. It’s more to do with the lack of interest the council is showing in addressing the ongoing problems with this road.

We used to live on Caradon Walk and had to commute onto this ‘accident magnet’ of a road daily, along with many of our friends (some who still live on Redhouse Way). If you are lucky enough not to collide with someone, you often have to contend with head to head idiots who lack any serious level of politeness - forcing you backwards regardless of who actually has right of way.

Following the incident yesterday, I did a bit of research into whether there were any plans to address the issue. The only tangible article I could find was documented through the minutes of the Redhouse Residents’ Association on May 19, 2009. The following comments are noted in the chairman’s report.

Road transport and parking DR reported back to the group following his meeting with Rachel Ind (transport manager at Swindon Borough Council). He obtained responses to several queries raised by residents. These included: * Yellow lines to help ease the parking problems - Swindon Borough Council is responsible for providing double yellow lines, but do not recommend their use in residential areas.

* Residents’ parking permits to help ease the parking problems - such a scheme is unlikely, it would be costly to implement, and it is unclear how multi-car families would be incorporated.

* Cutting into/reducing the size of the grass verges to help ease the parking problems - this is unlikely as the council has no funds to pay for the work. The developers maintain that they have fulfilled their building contracts and are not legally obliged to undertake such remedial works.

* Justin Tomlinson reported that Highways had been down to inspect Redhouse Way, an area with particular parking issues. They argued that the current parking issues actually make this safer for the children attending the local school because motorists are forced to slow down on Redhouse Way.

The last comment has no real bearing on reality. Motorists do not slow down on Redhouse Way as the result of parked cars. As the road consists of many long bends, parked cars actually make oncoming cars and pedestrians unsighted. Even when driving at a sensible speed, cars travelling at 20mph approach each other with a closing speed of 40mph with limited opportunity to break and no room to pass. Perhaps someone from Highways should rent a house for a month on Redhouse Way and then report back. I am sure they would reconsider the safety comment above.

Why can’t the council acknowledge the issues this road has and do something about it? In certain parts the pavement on both sides of the road is wider than the road itself - great logic in the design there.

Surely common sense would be to utilise some of this space to allow parking and create passing points along the road. My wife and kids were lucky that the only damage done was to our car - which is repairable. Will it take the death of a child en route to school before someone sits up and acknowledges that enough it enough and gets something done to make the road safe?

CHRIS MARSLAND Oakhurst Swindon