Agenda item

To receive presentations from Highways, Police and Community Speed Watch on their part in addressing speeding issues, followed by a question and answer session.

Officer: David Bullock, Highway Improvement Manager

The Board received a presentation from David Bullock, Highways Improvements Manager, and the Police and Community Speed Watch on their part in addressing speeding issues.

Questions were then taken from the floor, these included:

• Currently there was no signage on the easterly direction on  Baverstock lane, could this be rectified, as local people felt that current conditions were extremely dangerous and the safety of those that lived there needed consideration. Answer: This had already been logged as an issue and signage looked at by the Highways department who had decided that no additional signage was needed. The Chairman said that she would ask Highways to look at the situation again.
• Wilton and Dinton share a speed camera device on a fortnightly basis. If more areas become involved in the scheme, the current amount of cameras owned by Wiltshire Council would be in more demand, resulting in the allocation time to villages becoming less frequent. Will more cameras be purchased as more villages become involved in the scheme. Answer: Cameras were about £6,000 each as they had to be Home Office approved equipment. The programme had been running for a year, so the council were in the process of reviewing the Community Speed Watch (CSW) operation and the groups involved. It was hoped that in working with those communities any changes needed could be established.

• Fovant had had a busy year on highways issues. The speed limit review was proposing changing a 40mph to 60mph. It had since been decided to keep the speed limit to 40mph. The Fovant Road Safety Group had requested CSW and Speed Indicator Devices (SIDS), but had been turned down for both and did not know why. A submission had been produced detailing the problems faced by the people of Fovant and the desired solutions and sent to the Chairman of the Board for consideration.

Answer: The Chairman had not seen the submission, but agreed to give the matter some consideration, now that the papers were available.

• If CSW did not involve any prosecution then why did the council purchase the most expensive type of speed camera device rather than a cheaper alternative. Answer: Wiltshire Police had specified the type of camera they wished the council to purchase (a similar type to their own) to enable them to provide support to the CSW teams.

·         Was a 20mph speed limit enforceable.  Answer: The guidance available from the Association of Chief Police Officers on the matter of enforcement of a 20mph speed limit, was that it was not currently enforceable. There is no alternative education course to offer someone who has been stopped exceeding that speed"

The Chairman stated that the Board supported villages that were keen to implement CSW in their area.

Councillor Deane noted that the recent review of speed limits had caused some contention in the area.

Councillor Tonge Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, gave an update on the situation of the Speed Limit Review. He stated that all comments received from parishes had been looked at. Those who had a contentious issue were contacted to discuss the issues. Following that, some parishes were then in agreement with the suggested implementations whilst others were not. The latter would be visited later in the year by the relevant officers to discuss the matter further with a nominated representative of the Parish.

He added that all of the recommendations that had been put forward by the consultant in the report had been endorsed by the police.