a)
Speed Limit
Review
Councillor Dick Tonge explained the background to the Speed
Limit Review. Some of the points raised were:
·
In August 2006 the
Department of Transport (DoT) issued new guidance to Highways
Authorities regarding the setting of speed limits.
·
All Highways
Authorities were requested to complete an assessment of existing
speed limits on A and B Class roads, in line with revised guidance,
and implement any amendments arising from this process by
2011.
·
A review had been
carried out and a set of recommendations had been compiled, and
distributed in the form of a CD to all Parish Councils for
consultation.
·
All comments and
suggestions received during consultation would be taken into
consideration.
·
Any suggestion which
Wiltshire Council felt was contentious would be discussed with the
Parish Council who had raised it.
·
Consultation ends 5
February 2010.
Some points and questions raised from those present
were:
·
Some Parishes were not
supportive of the recommendations set out in the report, and asked
what criteria had been used to arrive at them.
·
The criteria used had
been set out by Government.
·
There was some concern
over a lack of communication with other Authorities along Wiltshire
Council’s borders.
·
In some instances
where local conditions went against the Government recommendations,
local knowledge/comments would need to be given
consideration.
·
The Review would
consider all suggestions and comments submitted by Parishes, any
disputed issues would be discussed with the Parish
concerned.
Councillor Tonge also spoke about the recent weather
conditions where Wiltshire had experienced heavy snow and ice
causing complications on roads and to services such as schools. He
gave an update on how Wiltshire Council had set about relieving the
situation. Some points covered were:
- Every effort was made where possible to ensure
that carers, medicine and food was
accessible for the elderly and vulnerable.
- Grit Trucks had driven in front of some ambulances
on stretches of road where ice had caused incidents.
- Schools where exams were being held had been kept
open.
- Gritting had been prioritised to A and B, and to
some C Class roads. After they had been cleared, the grit trucks
had started on the smaller roads.
- Pre-ordered salt from Cheshire had been diverted
by the Government during the shortages in January, but the
pre-ordered salt from Spain had arrived, preventing stocks from
running out in Wiltshire.
- In some areas it was established that grit bins
were being raided for private resale, soon after they had been
replenished.
- Wiltshire Council would approach all Parish
Councils in April 2010 to explain what processes had taken place
during the winter, and to ask what could be changed to improve the
situation next time.
The Chairman thanked Councillor Tonge for attending the
meeting, and urged any Parish who had not yet replied to the Speed
Limit consultation, to do so.
b)
Community Speed
Watch
Community Speed Watch (CSW) Co-ordinator Elizabeth Ngero
gave an overview on the scheme. Points covered were:
- A
potential speeding issue should be first raised with the local Area
Board by completing a community issue sheet (online:
www.wiltshire.gov.uk/areaboards).
- Requests would be prioritised and the Camera Safety Unit asked
to assess each proposal to test the speed of vehicles and make
sure they were suitable and safe for CSW.
- If CSW
was a suitable approach, the CSW coordinator (working in the Camera
Safety Unit) would liaise with the Local Beat Manager, Roads
Policing Officers and the local community to organise training for the volunteers.
- All
sites would be checked for safety and risks and the scheme could
only be conducted at these specified sites.
- Once
the training had been completed, the CSW Volunteers would carry out
speed monitoring on specified roads in their community. All
volunteers agree to work within a ‘Code of Practice’
which ensured a consistent approach for all of the schemes and the
motoring public.
- The
CSW Volunteers would then record the registration numbers of
vehicles exceeding the local speed limit. This information would be passed to the CSW
Coordinator and a letter would be sent from the Police warning the
registered keeper of the vehicle. If
certain vehicles were found to be persistently offending they would
be targeted by the Police with a view to issuing a Fixed Penalty
Notice or to instigate court proceedings.
- Where
the recorded results showed a persistent speed issue the CSW
Coordinator may recommend to the Wiltshire and Swindon Road Safety Partnership that additional
investigation be undertaken and temporary speed indicator devices
or similar variable message signs may be deployed periodically at
the site. If this were to show a
significant ongoing problem Wiltshire Council’s highways
department would assess whether further engineering or traffic
management measures may be appropriate.
For more information on Community Speed Watch, and how to
get involved in a scheme in your area, please contact Tom Bray on
01722 434252 or tom.bray@wiltshire.gov.uk