Historic Towns Forum

Warwickshire County Council is exploring more radical traffic management solutions for some of its historic towns and the Shared Space model was one which was presented, by its advocate Ben Hamilton-Baillie, at a seminar on 18 November hosted by Arup, the consultant working with the Authority.

The Historic Core Zone model was also discussed after a presentation by Chris Winter (HTF Director) who also showed examples from Europe collected by former Chair Ian Poole during his CABE scholarship tour.

There were some clear conclusions from the meeting:

• More data was required to alleviate questions around safety
• More guidance was needed about what can done without needing to involve the DfT
• Better dissemination of information
• Elected Members need to be convinced of the arguments
• Training and development issues need to be addressed
• Cross-department working is vital for success
• Reduction of speed is key for local authorities (ie traffic calming)
• Be prepared to go back and make changes / improvements
• Shared Space can be applied flexibly - as a concept
• Maintenance and services are important factors to be considered.

The event offered a very useful mechanism for the exploration of ideas and information, at a very professional level, without the pressure to make decisions on specific proposals.