Fresh calls for action on Fifield junction after another 'serious' car crash

An RBWM cabinet member says he will look into possibly changing the speed limit near an ‘extremely dangerous’ junction in Fifield following another serious collision on Sunday.

At around 5:50pm on June 1, the fire brigade was called to a crash on the B3024 Forest Green Road.

Three drivers had collided and one person was trapped in their vehicle, needing to be rescued by fire crews. Witnesses said they saw several police cars in the vicinity and that the incident looked ‘serious’.

This is not the first time this stretch has drawn attention from the community - indeed, what with one thing and another, it has been branded ‘extremely dangerous’ by residents.

The four-way junction of Fifield Road, Forest Green Road and Oakley Green Road (outside Braywood Memorial Hall) has fetched repeated concerns from Bray councillors and community groups across many years.

Among those concerned is Barbara Frame, chair of Oakley Green Fifield Community Association (OGAFCA), who has been talking about this issue for about a decade.

She said she heard the emergency services ‘haring up the road’ on Sunday and said she is ‘sadly not surprised’ there has been another incident.

In the past, several motorcyclists have been hurt there, Barbara said, among other injuries; in 2023, a 91-year-old driver was shunted into a ditch, and his car rolled onto its side, forcing him to climb out.

These collisions are perceived as all too common by residents on the stretch.

“People see a straight country road and they put their foot down,” Barbara said. “[But] most people adhere to a speed limit. If it says 30mph, they will slow down.”

That is why OGAFCA has been campaigning to change the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph for years – so far, to no avail.

Previously, the council has said there would be no point putting in a new speed limit if police won’t enforce it – and the police have said this stretch isn’t a priority for them.

Nonetheless, Barbara thinks a 30mph sign would act as a warning to slow down for the junction and such signs ‘definitely make a difference’.

But she has been frustrated with the council, which decides local road speed limits. The data OGAFCA collected was not enough to convince them, she said, despite their wealth of local experience.

“If you speak to anyone along this road, everybody says the speed should be lowered,” she said.

An alternative option would be a physical change to that junction, where visibility can be a challenge.

Speaking to the Advertiser, Cllr Geoff Hill, RBWM’s cabinet member for highways, said he is happy for RBWM to revisit the question of this junction and its speed.

He said that the speed there is generally ‘right for the road’ which is mainly not flanked by buildings – but the area around the junction itself could be considered separately.

One option could be to see if there is a case for slowing traffic before that junction, perhaps between Fifield Polo Club (5 Oakley Green Rd) and Banham Farm/ Ledger Lane off Forest Green Road.

As part of its research, the Borough can look into how many incidents there have been. It keeps data on the number of collisions leading to injury, said Cllr Hill.

He said he would ask RBWM’s professional highways officers to look into what can be done on the road but cannot make any guarantees.

Meanwhile, Cllr Suzanne Cross, who is both a Royal Borough councillor for Bray and chairman of the traffic and highways committee of Bray Parish Council, said she 'strongly urges' residents to report all incidents (including near misses) to Thames Valley Police.

“Reliable data is crucial in driving informed decisions, and the more empirical evidence we can provide, the stronger our case for any necessary interventions,” she said.