Kirklees Council approve plans for “the most dangerous junction in Mirfield”

Mirfield Councillor, Vivien Lees-Hamilton, said that the Saville Arms Crossroads, at the junction of Water Royd Lane, Old Bank Road, Kitson Hill Road, and Lee Green, in central Mirfield, is ripe for change.

Community members have not agreed with councillors on the future of the junction, with objectors calling for a layby in the area and ward members opposing the proposition.

Over the years, the area has been monitored by Highway Safety and has been subject to various changes with the hope of improving road safety. This was said to be successful to a degree, with an average of one incident every two and a half years, though the percentage of Killed and Seriously Injured Casualties has remained at 50 per cent.

A council report stated that the existing layby on Water Royd Lane south of the crossroads had a detrimental effect on visibility to the left for drivers waiting to emerge from Lee Green which could increase the incidence of collision.

Originally, it was proposed that the layby be removed altogether to eliminate the risk with this option supported by local councillors. However, officers recognised that this could prove highly unpopular with the local community with there being no alternative place to stop on-street nearby. This proved to be correct when plans were later advertised.

Members of the public attended a meeting of Kirklees Council’s Cabinet Committee for Local Issues to raise their objections.

A representative called Mohammad, attended the meeting on behalf of his 64-year-old father who established Paradise Takeaway in Mirfield in 1996. He explained that his issue with the proposals was regarding the loading bay.

He said: “many years ago, there were no restrictions on loading, there were just double yellow lines which allowed us to load and unload. However, the crossing was moved from further down the road to the current location and the only reason the current loading bay is there is because we initially objected to the initial proposals to remove all loading facilities.”

The loading bay was said to be important for deliveries, with its removal described as “unreasonable” as this would make the takeaway inaccessible to disabled customers and make loading and unloading too strenuous for the representative due to his back issues.

As a compromise, ‘plan P05’ has been suggested by officers which would see the retention of a loading bay but with some changes.

This layby would be much deeper allowing vehicles to park further back into the footway and vehicles further away from the Lee Green junction. Speed bumps and improved lighting are other measures suggested for the area, however, local councillors did not find this to be a satisfactory solution.

Coun Lees-Hamilton branded the junction as undoubtedly “the most dangerous junction in Mirfield.”

The Coun who has been in the driver training industry for 28 years, said herself and fellow ward Coun Martyn Bolt didn’t support the plans to retain a layby in the area. The Coun explained the dangers of the junction and described the sight line from the left as “abysmal” without the presence of a layby.

She also said the junction was in need of a traffic calming scheme that shouldn’t be compromised by a layby.

After a debate, panel members decided to unanimously support the proposal of plan P05 despite local ward members’ objections.