Council cracks down on speeders

TOWN councillors have given the green light for traffic calming measures to be taken in two Westbury streets.

Residents in Alfred Street, Newtown and Long River Road and Hawkeridge Road and Slag Lane appealed for action after a growing problem with speeding motorists.

Planning, highways and development committee councillors considered residents’ requests for action at their latest meeting and agreed to send them to Wiltshire Council’s community area transport group. 

An Alfred Street resident said for the past three years an increasing number of motorists had been speeding there.

“It’s the straight stretch in front of the Horse and Groom pub,” the correspondent said. “All the houses on this road, their gates open onto the road, not a pavement, and it’s a double yellow line area so no cars are parked.

“We really need speed restrictions in place – speed bumps, or islands. Something to make us safer leaving our property and the people leaving the pub.”

Proposing traffic calming and signage to discourage traffic from using the road in the first place, cllr Mike Sutton said, “This is a good example of where traffic and motoring is outdoing the town. I have some sympathy with people in this street – we put up double yellow lines to stop parking but it merely encourages cars to go faster. 

“Alfred Street is suffering at the moment, for some reason it is being used by more and more traffic and heavy goods vehicles and we have previously had the suggestion we should put a sign up. It’s a very narrow residential street. The pavements don’t cater for a lot of people and it can be dangerous.”

Cllr Sheila Kimmins further suggested a sign saying it was not a suitable route for HGVs, and members voted unanimously in favour of both proposals.

A second request for councillors to consider speeding measures, which was also unanimously approved, was for Newtown and Long River Road, with a local resident saying there had recently been “another” accident there. “Fortunately there were no fatalities but Newtown had to be closed by the police to permit safe access to the accident site for attending ambulance and paramedics,” the correspondent said.

“My personal preference would be for a 20mph speed limit to be introduced from the post where the current 30mph limit ends in Newtown, to the car park for the White Horse, with either the installation of at least three cameras or alternatively some steep sided speed [bumps].” 

Cllr Sheila Kimmins said, “One of the problems here is that when you come up Newton and start along Long River Road there’s no speed limit. From the White Horse car park down to Newtown it’s no speed limit. It really does need one from the White Horse – it’s all downhill so people can come at quite a speed if they’re not careful.”

She proposed a 30mph speed limit from the White Horse car park to the equestrian centre, falling to 20mph from the equestrian centre to Bratton Road.

Cllr Mike Kettlety said speed limits needed to be enforced if they were to work. “There needs to be mechanical means to record speed and make comment about it,” he said. “If there’s no Speed Watch these things become slightly irrelevant. 

“We need to look at the overall picture – this area from the old cement works quarry, down to the riding stables. We do need some sort of speed restriction area. Chicanes are probably the best answer, giving right of way to those climbing the hill, but this would be considerably more expensive. 

“There has to be some physical attempt to control the speed if we are serious about it.”

A third request was also received for repeated speeding reports along Hawkeridge Road and Slag Lane, with traffic causing the correspondent’s house to shake and cracks in the walls. Councillors said this was already being worked on under a Wiltshire Council speed calming scheme.