Priory Chase and Temple Way…..

April

5

48 comments

We have three updates to give about the Priory Chase /Temple Way area in Rayleigh.

First of all, Asda have agreed to take down the huge green “ASDA” lettering on the side of their building. The lettering can’t be seen from Rawreth Lane, so serves no useful purpose. But it is very visually intrusive for people who live opposite, and have first floor lounge windows looking out onto it.

So full marks to Asda for agreeing to remove it sometime this month.

However, no marks to Asda on another issue. When the government inspector gave them planning permission two years ago, he required them to supply a traffic management plan for delivery vehicles. This still hasn’t been done. Chris and Ron raised this at the Development Control meeting at the end of March, when an application for a new wall in Asda’s delivery yard came up for consideration. As a result, the application was deferred, and planning chief Shaun Scrutton said they would be ‘vigourously’ pursuing Asda over this…..

Thirdly, we’ve had a couple of anguished emails from residents in Temple Way about visibility problems with the roundabout by the Leisure Centre. The road layout is causing problems, which is not surprising as it was rushed through by the District Council before knowing what was going to be built onto it. We have arranged to visit some Temple Way residents to discuss this.

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  • Would like to know more about the problems that residents have experienced with regard to the leisure centre rounabout. I live on that roundabout, and personally have no problems at all with visability either getting onto the roundabout to return home or leaving home, and I only drive “normal” sized cars (ie no 4x4s with increased height and visibility). Perhaps people coming from the Leisure centre are having problems which warrants a good 50% of all patrons in cars leaving the leisure centre going the wrong way around the roundabout.

  • I agree with Corey. I use the gym regularly during the day and have not experienced any visibility problems using the roundabout. I have noticed that sometimes its a bit tight for bus No.24 to negotiate in one go.

  • Admin, is there anything that can be done on the rubbish problem in Priory Chase / Temple Way? The rubbish is all eminating from ASDA in the likes of till receipts, bags, crisp and sweet wrappings etc. I have spoken with ASDA in the past about the problem, and for awhile they did weekly clear ups, however, the assistant manager that ensured this was done has since left (like many of the original management team) and since then nothing has been done. Too be honest I am growing tired of filling up my wheelie bins with ASDA trash that ends up on my front garden.

    If there is anything you can do – it would be appreciated. It was mentioned about a year ago that we could get some bins put in?

  • Corey, you are not the only one concerned about this – some other people have mentioned this to me very recently – hopefully we can arrange something.

  • There is a local resident who, every morning at around 8.45 a.m., drives at speed off of her driveway and refuses to give way to anything in her path – especially if the other car has the right of way! She always goes the wrong way round the roundabout and is extremely likely to cause a serious accident in the near future. I am mindful of the fact that there are high volumes of traffic in Priory Chase at this time of the morning – due to school arrivals and departures.

    I have been advised, by the local Road Safety Officer, to pass her number on to them and they, in turn, will pass it onto the Police.

  • Chris, could the question of how many Fixed Penalty Notices for dropping litter have been issued in the RDC area since the new legislation was introduced. Perhaps this will encourage more fines to be imposed and less litter to be dropped.

  • Corey, It might be an idea to take it back to the store and tip the ASDA rubbish onto their floor. If a few residents did that, together, they may decide to do something about it.

  • I personally have issues with the inconsiderate and dangerous parking in the immediate vicinity of the mini-roundabout at the junction of Temple Way and Priory Chase.
    This is caused by the residents who live adjacent to the roundabout, selfishly parking on the road within the roundabout road markings and on the immediate approach to the roundabout. This is especially an issue when leaving Temple Way to turn left onto Priory Chase because more often than not you can’t see vehicles approaching from the direction of the Primary School.
    This is further exacerbated by vehicles approaching the mini-roundabout at speed from the direction of the school. A serious accident waiting to happen, especially when there are pedestrians i.e school children added to the equation.

    I have also witnessed on many occasions cars driving from the Leisure centre and turning right onto Priory Chase without going around the roundabout. These cars are driven with excessive speed for the road conditions and the drivers clearly have no intention of stopping to give way to vehicles approaching from the right. Notably these vehicles usually have small children in the rear of the car!

    I’d like to know:-
    1)When Priory Chase and Temple Way are going to be formally adopted by the Council and therfore swept regularly?
    2) When the Road Markings and related signage on Priory Chase and Temple Way are going to be marked legally and therfore correctly as per the Highway Code? This would allow the law to be enforced.
    3) If it is possible in the mean time for a Road Safety Officer to visit the site and gather evidence as per my points above? – This needs to be done at intervals throughout the day including during the School Run and in the evening/early morning and weekends when residents park outside their property’s blocking the roundabout. It should be noted that ALL of the offending residents have off street parking available to them. It wouldn’t go amiss if the school and the Leisure Centre could help promote a road safety message.
    4) Who authorised the bus stop terminus outside ASDA on Priory Chase? Priory Chase is entirely unsuitable for a bus route. Again I have witnessed on numerous occasions the bus having to stop and reverse back around the island because the turning circle is inadequate AND not helped by cars/vans parked on and aprroaching the roundabout – completely ignoring the Highway Code. I have also witnessed the bus mounting the pavement – no consideration by the bus company for the safety of pedestrians especially children.
    This bus stop is also completely unnecessary as there is a properly marked bus stop on Rawreth Lane overlooking ASDA carpark. The Route needs to be re-planned and terminate/turn around elsewhere.
    5) Last but not least ASDA HGV’s. Still no improvement on the turning circle in/out of the yard despite ASDA promising to do so. When will this be improved? HGV’s still regularly mounting the pavement and grass verge ALSO parked HGV’s causing excessive obstruction on Priory Chase especially when the bus is at the unauthotised unmarked bus terminus AND residents are parked on the road blocking the roundabout…

    I can’t imagine what chaos is going to be caused when the football pitches are fully operational and when CORAL have built their take-aways… Thankfully this is is one unwanted “community” development that the Recession seems to have but a halt to – albeit temporarily?…. I hope that the council will tkae heed to other Councils in oulawing the opening of take-aways in the vicinity of schools…

  • And another thing!! 🙂 In relation to litter. I have similar concerns BUT as I live at the opposite end of Temple Way mine are with MAKRO! A natural wind tunnel seems to dump all of the rubbish from Makro Car Park on my front lawn…

  • So if ASDA are going to remove the green lettering by the end of the month – they had better get their skates on – isn’t it the end of the month today?

    I knew they wouldn’t keep to their word!

  • I mean just the bus stop that’s right outside my front door. There’s one on Rawreth Lane so don’t see the point of one in Priory Chase too. Is there someone I can moan at please?

  • Hear hear PCR! I’ve been going on about this on this site since the N0 24 bus terminus appeared on Priory Chase. As I have previously stated and you quite rightly point out there is a lay-by on Rawreth Lane adjacent to ASDA’s car-park and this should be used as the terminus for this bus.

    Priory Chase is not suitable for an ordinary bus stop nor this terminus because the buses struggle to negotiate the mini roundabout at the junction of Priory Chase and Temple Way.

    The No 24 bus needs to be rerouted so that it can turn around safely in a more suitable location or it should be made into a circular route thus negating the need to turn around!

  • You’re quite right, the bus struggles to turn round. And Priory Chase must be one of the narrowest roads in Rayleigh to have a bus route. But I don’t think there’s a more adequate turning point. The alternative would be to have some kind of a circular service that went to the end of Rawreth Lane, along the A1245 and then back up London Road…..which I would like to see….

  • A question which I’ve asked before PCR but the consensus on these web pages seemed to be that the bus company doesn’t need permission for the No24 bus to use Priory Chase???

    I too find this ongoing debacle unbelievable given that Council bureaucracy is such that you need permission for everything!

    I can only think that ASDA and the bus company are taking full advantage of the fact that Priory Chase has still to be adopted by Essex CC Highways Dept but that then begs the question who actually does “own” Priory Chase and Temple Way?

    Who is therefore legally responsible for the maintenance of Priory Chase and Temple Way etc? George Wimpey Homes perhaps or is it ASDA or is it actually Essex CC or RDC as I assume that the council previously owned the land that the school occupied??

    It’s all a bit of a mystery but the 24 bus terminus/stop on Priory Chase is not welcome by ASDA’s neighbours and those that do use it would I’m sure not mind walking a little further to the Rawreth Lane bus stop…?

    If the service was more regular I would use it to get to the station, certainly a circular route would be more beneficial to Locals…

  • It is ridiculous and I hate that bus stop with a passion. We knew nothing about it when we bought the house.
    Maybe the management company (Wood Management Co) for the site is responsible? I don’t see what else I’m paying a maintenance charge for!
    This week I saw a bus driver leave his bus parked on the yellow lines blocking the road whilst he had a chat with his mate for 10 minutes!

  • This is a return to the argument for a circular bus route. It has been discussed at length at a number of Parish and District Council meetings in the past two years. I personally suggested that the circular route could alternate in direction each hour.
    At one particular meeting, representatives from both the First Bus Company and Regal Busways were questioned at length about their services and routes. Regal Busways listened and now provide a service through Rawreth, albeit only two hourly.
    First Bus are less receptive to any suggestions from the public and openly admit they run services purely for profit. Public service is secondary in their minds.
    I would like Admin to advise people living in the Priory Chase area of past history and revisit the minutes of the meetings and publish examples of previous comments from the bus companies.
    A lot of comments were also made on this site.

  • Instead of terminating in the layby in Rawreth Lane why not have the bus continue on to Battlesbridge Train Station and terminate there if that is possible? This would then give the residents who live there a better bus service than they already have.

  • If a circular route cannot be provided, would it not be possible for the bus to turn round in the industrial park near Macro? There are a number of coach companies that operate from this site, so the road may be more suited to bus sized vehicles. Maybe Macro would appreciate a public transport link?

    However, it would concern me that there is no proper bus-stop with lay-by on the east bound Rawreth Lane, so the bus would cause an obstruction if it had to stop and wait for shoppers for any period of time, and this would be very bad given the traffic levels we now have every day. This traffic light junction gets gridlocked on a regular basis. Perhaps people would have to get on the bus on the west bound side, before it turns round.

  • The answer is not to continue the number 24 at all but to develope the number 3 run by Regal Busways .This serves Asda and Rawreth lane to |Battlesbridge Station.This service should benefit from publicity from all the local councils .History tells us that First Bus do not run a service for the benefit of anyone but their shareholders .We are in danger of losing the number 3, if we do not use it ,let alone the number 24 .

  • Although I still think that a circular bus route around Rawreth and Rayleigh (and possibly also Battlesbridge) is the best solution, STI raises a very important point about there being no lay by east bound on Rawreth Lane near ASDA. As we all know peak traffic levels are ridiculous especially as Rawreth Lane is increasingly used by those commuters avoiding any congestion on the east bound A127 at peak times.

    I too have previously suggested on this site that a bus terminus would be more suitable in the Rawreth Lane Industrial Park near Macro… however the road there is also very narrow and a turning circle would need to be specially constructed… Maybe something for the planners to consider if the site is to turned into a new housing development…

    I also echo Greenbelt and would like to know how the Parish and District Councils engage with the bus companies. If these routes are discussed then surely there must be an element of consent given to the bus companies? If this is the case can “consent” also be withdrawn?

    The 24 Bus route doesn’t appear to be patronised on any great level – at least not at the Priory Chase end of the route – so the argument that it is purely a money spinner for FIRST must be brought into question OR do ASDA somehow subsidise the 24 route? Maybe a minibus shuttle to Rayleigh Town Centre would be more appropriate?

  • TWR, I would just to make it clear that there was no argument from First Bus Co.that it is purely a money spinner. It was a strongly worded statement from the First Bus representative that they are not a charity and they pull services if they do not pay.
    Personally, I frequently use the No. 24 from Priory Chase to Rayleigh and would not want it to cease. A number 3 bus every two hours is insufficient and inconvenient.

  • Greenbelt I’m not suggesting that the 24 Bus Route should be pulled in fact we could do with a more frequent service into Rayleigh including Rayleigh station HOWEVER what I am, and others, are saying is that the bus terminus/stop should be re-sited on Rawreth Lane at the foot of the ASDA car-park in the slip road/lay-by where hard standing for a bus shelter was laid years ago, so I assume that this was the original intended location anyway?

    Priory Chase is simply not appropriate for a bus route let alone a bus terminus/stop.

  • Hi. Was hoping someone could shed some light on this for me please?
    I live on Priory Chase and park my car outside on the double yellows. Today I noticed that I had a ‘parking ticket’ on my windscreen but on further inspection it was a clear envelope with a note in it saying penalty charge notice. Please do not ignore. When I looked in the envelope there was nothing in there so what is there to ignore? Am I right in thinking the road still isn’t adopted so until it is I can continue to park there? None of my neighbours who park on Priory Chase had this notice.
    Can anyone help please?

  • PCR, I think someone has probably played a prank on you. As far as I am aware the double yellow lines on Priory Chase are not enforceable because they were painted by ASDA in a cynical attempt to prevent local residents parking outside of their own properties and hindering access to their deliveries yard. Priory Chase and Temple Way have not been adopted by Essex County Council as yet so in effect are still private roads which should be maintained by the developers i.e. George Wimpey Homes etc… If you are worried you could always seek advice from our local neighbourhood specialist Police Officer. PC Wyn Sharp. He prefers to be e-mailed:- wyn.sharp@essex.pnn.police.uk

  • Priory Chase Resident – Do you own a maroon Fiesta? I think it was a Fiesta that was causing major problems this morning when workmen were digging up the road.

    Later on a bus was trying to pass as was an Asda delivery lorry and it looked to me as if the lorry came exceedingly close to hitting the maroon car. I noticed all of this on the way into and out of School this morning as it was causing loads of problems for normal cars in passing let alone lorries or buses.

    I appreciate that you were probably parked there first and that the sensible thing to do would have been for the workmen to have tried to ascertain who owned the car and politely asked you to move it.

    I am also informed, by two separate sources, that the “digging up works” that have been taking place recently are all in an effort to enable the road to be adopted very soon! Can you shed any light on this Chris?

    Also, once the road is adopted, and I assume that residents will not be officially informed, are we then to assume that the double yellow lines will become enforceable?

    CCR

  • Oops just looked at the dates of the posts and realised that PCR was discussing an incident on Friday – but my post may still be relevant!

  • CCR – I’ve not been notified about the works but it’s certainly possible that they are connected with adoption. (I will inquire)

    The ‘parking ticket’ cannot be official in any way.

    When the road is adopted there will still be a legal process of introducing yellow lines. The public will have a chance to comment on the Traffic Regulation Order

  • Thank you for the replies. The maroon car belongs to my neighbour. I haven’t had anything else posted to my windscreen so will ignore this one. Thanks again.

  • Firstly apologies because this isn’t really a council issue but I thought I would get a good response on here.

    As my name suggests I live on Priory Chase and have just received a charge from the management company for maintenance of the estate. It’s not the first one I’ve received but I just wanted to see if anyone else has received this too?

    Thanks in advance.

  • Yeah – a six monthly charge of around £87.
    Easy money for the maintaining of a piece of tarmac (residetial car park) mesuring 5 square meters!

  • Thanks for replying. I can’t believe that we have to pay this. It’s such a con! Like you said – easy money for a bit of tarmac! Think we should demand to have some flowers or something there so they can justify the gardening charge!!

  • Getting rid of the roundabout would stop motorists going round the roundabout the wrong way, or shooting out from behind parked cars at speed and forcing oncoming traffic to stop suddenly (have personally come close to two near head on collisions because of this.) It would stop teenagers from using it as a place to sit, chat and leave their litter – I am surprised that no one has been injured or killed yet!

    In my opinion, traffic volume was not adequately considered during the planning of this development, consideration was not given to the volume of traffic for a leisure centre, school and supermarket – this road is congested.

    I think the removal of the roundabout and replacing with a T Junction would be a very good idea – put in speed bumps after the ASDA service yard turnoff and upto the school would certainly slow down traffic, prevent road users from driving on the wrong side of the road, and would prevent the congregation of children in the middle what is a busy road.

  • At the risk of blatant pedantry, if we’re taling about the roundabout at the Leisure Centre entrance, that’s a four way junction so how could it become a T-junction?

  • Absolutely sick of speed bumps everywhere- they punish all road users, not just the racer types. They are particularly nasty and painful for people with back trouble and spinal injuries. We seem to have developed a culture whereby all motorists are subject to all manner of Orwellian counter-measures instead of a culture of good motoring education from learner-level onwards and good town planning.

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