26/27 LHI proposal
Each year Cambridgeshire County Council invite all parish councils in the county to apply for Local Highways Improvement (LHI) funding. The idea is that the parish councils consider the areas in their parish where they think some relatively minor improvements could be made to assist traffic flow or make the area safer for motorists, cyclist, riders and pedestrians.
For our 2026/27 LHI application Haddenham Parish Council resolved to concentrate on the junction of the A1123 road at West End and Church Lane. There are two major issues here. Firstly, vehicles often short-cut through Church Lane, to avoid the Top Corner crossroad junction, before turning left down Station Road. Some of these motorists come through Church Lane at great speed. We have accurately measured speeds and vehicle numbers across all hours of the day and all days of the week. This data can be included with our application.
The particular concern is on the weekday mornings, which unfortunately is exactly when there are children and parents trying to cross that junction during the school-run. The junction is shallow meaning short-cutting motorists (many of whom will not even live in Haddenham) are turning left at high speed. Residents on Church Lane have reported numerous collisions and said that they spend a lot of money on replacing wing mirrors on their vehicles as they are often knocked off.
The second issue is even more serious. Any pedestrians walking from Top Corner junction towards West End and Hill Row need to cross Church Lane at this point. The layout of the wooden fence to their right means any pedestrians need to have made it into the middle of the road before they can see round that fence to check for approaching vehicles. At this point they are at risk of vehicles approaching from both sides.
Our plan is to continue the pavement along the A1123, effectively removing this junction and turning Church Lane into a cul-de-sac. This will remove the need for pedestrians to cross the junction. A large number of school children, parents and their young children cross here, as well as older people. We feel this will make the area far safer. At the same time it will make Church Lane far more pleasant and much safer for the residents, their children their cars and their pets.
Applications are invited by Cambridgeshire County Council each January. Our application deadline for this round of funding is mid January 2026. We have been working with East Cambs Street Scene Ltd, the company that runs the refuse collection on behalf of East Cambridgeshire District Council. Fortunately their team manager is big on safety (both of residents and employees) and he was pragmatic and helpful enough to find time for two site visits. On his first visit he met two parish councillors on Church Lane and we discussed our plans in full. If blocking over the junction by extending the pavement had meant it would cause issues for the refuse collection lorries then the project would be a non-starter. We were grateful that the team manager brought along a bin lorry for his second visit. He filmed the vehicle making a 3-point turn. If we can reclaim some of the wide footpath at the junction then he is confident that there is enough room for the bin lorry to turn around and return back up Church Lane. We have the video footage to provide as evidence in our application.
The other condition is that we must put double yellow lines within the turning point at the end of the cul-de-sac to keep it clear for the bin lorry.
When we apply for LHI funding we need to agree on an amount that the parish council will put into the pot for the work. If the application is approved, County Highways will then make up the remainder. For this 2026/26 LHI application the parish council resolved to spend £10,000.
We need to show that we have consulted with residents. We have delivered 500 paper copies of a short questionnaire, inviting comments. Should the LHI application be successful we will also need to run formal consultation, by law, so that residents are given a chance to state their thoughts and opinions.
We feel this would dramatically improve the safety of our residents both those on Church Lane and those who live further down West End who need to cross what is currently a dangerous junction. We are actively trying to encourage all residents to walk more (when possible) and use their cars less. This is especially true for the home team footballers who travel to the Holly Fairchild Playing Fields at the weekend. We hope it will also slightly reduce the number of parked cars on High Street and Camping Close during the school-run and on week days.
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Please do contact the Parish Council if you would like to discuss further. We are more than happy to meet up and discuss any concerns or to clarify our plans.