There will be presentations from local groups looking at what has and hasn’t worked in the parishes, including 20 mph schemes and Community Speed Watch, before the debate is opened up to the floor.
Minutes:
Cllr Deane introduced this themed item, which was focused on the attempt to slow traffic in the villages. The Board received presentations from local groups looking at what had and had not worked in the parishes, including 20 mph schemes and Community Speed Watch.
He explained that the CATG has a limited budget, which was spent on small initiatives. We are here to discuss the matter of speeding through the villages. There is an element of perception, but not in all cases. The local Highways Officer had put together a presentation. The slides are attached to these minutes.
The Board then heard from the following community groups:
Hindon – Frank
Speeding Hotspots have been identified in many areas across our communities.
20 years ago, things were different, Police would visit an area and they would book people and charged them. Now we need to look to the three E’s, education, engineering and enforcement.
There are examples to be seen where the implementation of mini roundabouts, chicanes and humps can be effective.
Police have conducted speed checks in Hindon twice this year, we would like to see them more often. The ratio of tickets to words of advice has improved.
There are hurdles to go through to get a Speedwatch team up and running.
In Hindon, we share our device with two other villages. Once you have your team trained by the Police in Devizes, you then agree a programme with the other villages. We do two weeks on and four weeks off.
We input the data into a spreadsheet for submission to the local Police team.
There is quite a lot of effort involved with this.
Speed Indicator Devices (SIDS) – This is another option, where you do not deal with the Police, you deal with the Highways Team. The solar panel SID has run for most of the summer. During winter months the battery will need to be charged.
In our village we made two scarecrows with fake speed guns, and there was a dramatic impact.
Questions and comments –
· The Speedwatch training has changed now, and can be undertaken more locally, it takes about 6 weeks.
· The CSW is effective for the period of time they are there. The figures for speeding does come right down, but when the high-vis jackets go away the speeding goes back up. There was also a personal verbal attack on our volunteers, and they no longer take part. Answer: We do get abuse verbally but there has never been a physical attack. The reaction is on the whole supportive.
· If someone is reported by us for speeding they can expect to receive a letter from the Police. Some can receive a visit from a Police Officer.
· In Sedgehill and Semely we share a device, what about maintenance, long term?
· Cllr Jeans - the one we have just bought in Mere was £1300.
Presentation 2 - Quidhampton – Clare Churchill
Quidhampton is a rat run to Salisbury. We have always had a traffic problem and a speeding problem, so we applied for a 20mph reduced speed limit. We failed the first time but succeeded second time.
We have 12 volunteers and have the machine for 2 weeks a month. We do also have the Police to come and monitor the speeds as well.
We do not have a pavement through the whole village. Speed has reduced a bit from having 20mph limit, however, there are many road users that still do not realise that the speed is 20mph. Taxis and buses, and even refuse lorries.
If you have any ideas of how to slow the speed down please let us know.
Questions and comments –
· There is no actual way of stopping them.
· Chilmark also has a speeding problem, we would like to reduce to 20mph. If you make signs and have them on your own property, is that ok? Answer: They can be deemed as an obstruction.
· It must be possible to find out previous metro count data to see whether the money that has been spent and effort put in, has been of much benefit.
Presentation 3 - Fovant – Tony Phillips.
Fovant is on A30, west of Salisbury. We had a speed reduction to 20mph on the High Street 2 years ago. We also have narrow roads with no pavement. There are 1600 vehicle movements a day, with a lot of pedestrians fighting with cars for the shard space.
Fovant PC supported the change to 20mph, so we joined with two other parishes and purchased a SID and have so far been very impressed. The kit is 18kg so fairly heavy to move around.
To ask, is the 20mph working for us, to some extent it is. There is no evidence from the community that the speed should go back to 30mph.
How can 20mph be improved, firstly to improve the signage. The Highways engineer was excellent when she visited and made a dozen suggestions for changes along our stretch of road.
Need more people to volunteer for the Community Speedwatch scheme and we need more yellow advisory signs, which so far we have not been able to get hold of.
The training has also been an issue, we have had trouble in setting up volunteers with a session.
Fovant will in the future consider extending the current 20mph zone, further in to the 30mphn area. It has been rewarding to work with the other two villages and makes it more feasible to move forward more quickly.
Questions and comments –
· The training regime has changed. There will be a new leader from next week, hopefully things will then speed up. I would say keep pushing for the training.
Presentation 4 – Tollard Royal – Richard Mitchell
We are the most southernly village in Wiltshire. In parts the road is 12ft wide, and most properties front directly on to the road. In 2000, Highways announced we were to have a 20mph speed limit.
When it was a 30mph zone, the Police would attend several times a year with a speed device, however now it is 20mph, this no longer happens.
In 2004 we formed a Community Speedwatch team. When I contacted Devizes about a serial offender who lived outside Wiltshire, I was told that only those living in Wiltshire would actually get a visit. So those outside are free to speed. Our team felt that this was an insult to those that had given up their valuable time.
Our latest deterrent is our SID. Even when the battery is drained drivers will slow down anticipating triggering the device.
Questions and comments -
· I think there may be some negotiation with Dorset Police so hopefully there will be some joined up work to result in letters for those outside of Wiltshire.
· In Zeals, we asked for a 20mph limit outside the school. We were told we could not have one coming off a 40mph. So we settled for a 30mph limit. The Highways officer led us through the process and made it clear that signs do not slow people down, she designed a scheme that does actually work. My message is that you have to do traffic calming of some sort to slow the traffic down.
· Cllr Dean noted that Speedwatch enforcement and SIDs were time limited. It was good to hear about the Zeals enforcement that had been successful. We do need to have something physical. The average build-out is around £15k, and the CATG fund is limited. If you have something that you believe in then take it to the parish council. Start with the physical, if road users cannot drive fast then they wont drive fast.
· We do need to take time to look at the particular circumstances of each village. It is important to get the training right. A key thing is a balance of a build out and something else.
· The only thing that will stop some people is a speed camera, to hurt people in their pocket.
· One size will not fit all.
· Hindon is going through a Neighbourhod Plan at the moment, we are not allowed to put traffic issues in to that, we are only allowed to consider the houses going in, but not to consider the traffic that goes with them. Answer: Cllr Deane – I would put them in.
· Police Inspector Hutchings – There have been many valid points. In my 22 years in the service, for majority of that time I have been a Traffic Officer and have stood in many of your villages with a speed gun. As soon as we walked away the speeding returned. There are many ideas available to us to decide which would best suite each individual area. Having the input of the Highways Officer is pivotal. Volunteers schemes are vital and we support these. We know there have been some issues in the past with training, and we are working to resolve those.
With regards to abuse, sadly when someone is prepared to stand up and protect their area, there will always be people to shoot them down. If you have a dedicated team of volunteers, Wiltshire Police is dedicated to support you.
· Speed traps – can you put one in Tollard Royal? Answer: A 20mph limit does come with its problems. Our visibility acts as a deterrent, so we encourage our teams to be that visible presence as it has a positive effect. In terms of speed cameras, there is no doubt that they worked, however the problem is they are hugely expensive and fines do not come back to us but to central government.
· Are there any figures on the numbers of people who gets prosecuted? Answer: A repeat offender gets up to two letters and on the third offence they get a visit. Problem is, our officers have spent a great deal of time travelling to properties to find them not at home, it becomes a huge resource.