Road Safety Powers: Parish and Town Councils

Peter Swallow Excerpts

Monday 30th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sam Rushworth]

I do not know if my hon. Friend needs a crossing in his constituency because I am not local to that area. But I will tell hon. Members who does know: his parish council and the people who live there. If that is what they are asking for, they should be listened to.

[Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is being incredibly generous with his time. The point he is advancing is so important: this is not just about the safety of people, although that is really important. Just this week, we saw a horrible incident in my constituency where some geese were run over. That was a very traumatic incident for residents. Does he agree it is so vital that this Government set out a new national road safety strategy? Does he agree it is important that they listen to local voices from communities such as his and mine as they draw up that vital piece of work?

[Sam Rushworth]

We are all here and have all stayed late because we are the voices of the people we represent, and clearly they are all telling us the same thing. It falls to the Government to do something about the challenges we are raising tonight.

Let me quickly mention two or three other places, because I love my constituents, but they are jealous—I know that I will get grief if I neglect to mention places such as Fleet Street in Bishop Auckland, where there are just no road markings at a four-way stop and people do not know who to give way to. That is a regular source of concern for parents in the Cockton Hill area.

I will mention Stanley Crook and a lot of the hilltop villages where the traffic just does not want to slow down as people pursue their journey through residential areas. Let me also mention Kinninvie, where two years ago a car crashed into someone’s dining room—the family was lucky not to be in the dining room at the time. That is an area where for donkey’s years people have said it is a dangerous junction. People knew that, and eventually a serious accident happened.