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Report on Road Safety Meeting Held at St. Pauls Church, Whiteshill on Friday 12 Th October2018

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Report on Road Safety Meeting Held at St. Pauls Church, Whiteshill on Friday 12 Th October2018 Report on Road Safety Meeting held at St. Pauls Church, Whiteshill on Friday 12 th October2018 The meeting was attended by David Drew MP, Martin Surl (Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner), Assistant Chief Constable Julian Moss, Chief Inspector Steve Lindsey (Special Constabulary), Inspector Sarah Blake (Stroud LPA), David Hawker (Criminal Justice Department, Gloucestershire Constabulary), Scott Tompkins (Lead Commissioner, Highways, Gloucestershire County Council), Dan Tiffany (Local Highways Manager Stroud North, GCC), and delegates representing 29 Town and Parish Councils and road safety groups. The meeting was opened by Councillor Charles Pedrick , who described the background to the meeting, his own experiences in promoting road safety, and the aim of working together to make our communities safer. David Drew MP explained that road safety and speeding is an issue which is constantly raised by his constituents. “We need to work together to get people to drive better and more slowly – cows being killed on the common is not because the cows are stupid, it’s because people drive badly” he told the meeting. “We need to find solutions to the specific problems in our area and to educate people to drive sensibly. There is too much at risk if we don’t succeed in this aim.” He also told the meeting “Let’s work together – an integrated approach is the way to get people to drive sensibly and to make our communities safer.” The Whiteshill experience was then described by Councillor Graham Birt . A 20mph speed limit was introduced to reduce risk and pollution. Traffic calming measures were also introduced, but “a hard core of drivers was still travelling at dangerous speeds through our village” explained Graham. So an ANPR camera, similar to the ones already used by Rodborough Parish Council, was installed by the Parish Council. This delivers vehicle identity and speed information via a secure link to Parish Council and police computers. Around 100,000 vehicles are monitored each month. Since the introduction of the ANPR camera, the number of vehicles travelling in excess of the 20mph limit has been reduced by 12% - equivalent to 11,500 vehicle movements per month where drivers have modified their behaviour and are now respecting the speed limit. Serial speeders are now being identified at monthly meetings with their PCSO, and the top ten offenders each month who are visited by the PCSO and warned as to their future driving behaviour. Graham believes that “road safety in Whiteshill is being improved by reduced levels of speeding in the Parish.” Scott Tompkins (Commissioner for Highways, GCC) then explained how GCC can support and assist community road safety campaigns. Scott believes that Mobile Vehicle Activated Speed Signs (MVAS) can help by creating an instant reaction from drivers exceeding speed limits, and are “an opportunity to modify driver behaviour on the spot.” GCC will match fund MVAS for Parishes and Community Groups wishing to implement this technology. In terms of the cost of Traffic Regulation Orders required to reduce speed limits, GCC may also be able to co-fund such applications, including joint applications made by a number of such groups. As far as deployment of ANPR’s is concerned, GCC believe that they are safer than the use of Community Volunteers and help the police to target resources, but want to see improved signage so that drivers are aware of the locations of ANPR zones, and have concerns about back-office resources and public reaction to increased speed surveillance. He does however believe that “average speed cameras are a solution to the problem of high speed rural roads where traffic calming is not possible and enforcement is difficult” and that “statistics from roadwork sites have shown in excess of 90% compliance with average speed camera zones.” In conclusion Scott stated the GCC’s position is that “we are happy to support the use of Mobile VAS and ANPR with match funding, and will support the identification of suitable locations and surveys to quantify road safety issues.” Page 1 of 3 “It is very clear that people in Gloucestershire want safe roads” were the opening words of Martin Surl, Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner. “If we are going to solve this problem we need to put some effort in and identify what we can do with the resources we have. We need to educate drivers that it is both anti-social and dangerous to speed.” Martin explained that the M5 average speed cameras generate funds which are made available to the Police & Crime Commissioner, that “this money will be used for community projects” and that “I had been happy to help fund Rodborough’s speed cameras and other VAS’s with these funds.” On the issue of ANPR cameras he stated that “I do think ANPR cameras work. I am very grateful for the work they have done in Rodborough and Whiteshill. You have really made a difference to road safety and the Police support these initiatives in a very positive way.” Inspector Sarah Blake (Stroud LPA) told the meeting that her team of 18 PCSO’s will be part of the drive for safe and social driving in the Stroud area. Monthly meetings between councils and road safety groups and local PCSO’s can be used to identify prolific offenders, who can then be visited or sent letters. Weekly meetings at Stroud LPA discuss these issues to flag problem areas and bid for resourcing. “We plan to offer a consistent service to Parish and Town Councils such that you will know the level of police support which can be expected prior to ANPR’s being installed.” ‘ Op Soteria’ in November will target mobile phones use, speeding and close passing of vulnerable road users in the Stroud district, including both education and enforcement. Individual councils should contact their PCSO directly if they want to be involved in this operation. Special Chief Inspector Steve Lindsay MBE (Special Constabulary), described the resources available to his team and offered all councillors the opportunity to go out on patrol with him to see how these teams work. His team are linked to all ANPR camera data county-wide. A new police enforcement vehicle will be introduced in November both to police major A-roads in the county, and also to resource neighbourhood policing priorities. Steve is keen for Parish and Town Councils to work closely with the Special Constabulary. The Criminal Justice Department of Gloucestershire Constabulary is responsible for the Mobile Enforcement Team. David Hawker explained that his team currently provides mobile speeding enforcement at 90 sites across the county, using two vans with HOTA cameras which can monitor vehicle speed at up to 1000m distance. The team now has two additional mobile enforcement officers who can address community speeding issues, and are equipped with a van and handheld speed cameras. They are planning to double the number of ‘community sites’, and he believes that ANPR cameras will help measure the effects of police intervention. He confirmed that the new enforcement officers will support community road safety and speedwatch groups with joint operations. His team act as a focal point for community speedwatch operations and can be contacted directly at [email protected] . He asked that local groups inform his team of speedwatch groups and their planned activities. You can also contact David directly at [email protected] . Julian Moss (Assistance Chief Constable), was also very positive about police support for local road safety initiatives. “As a police officer, my major concerns are about major crime, drugs, child abuse and other such issues. As a villager, husband and father, my biggest concern is about road safety. I want my children to be safe on their way to school.” He promised that Gloucestershire police will listen to communities and address their concerns. “Local communities can do amazing things if they are empowered. I am really excited about the local ANPR initiative, it is a sustainable model. The police do have plans to fund further enforcement over the next few years and I am certain that together we can find a way to successfully address these issues.” His closing message was highly encouraging for the future of this group. “Gloucestershire Police have enforcement capabilities we did not have a few months ago. They will support these programmes and you have my full personal support for these initiatives. Take it step by step. Take it to the Cotswolds. Then take it other areas. Together we can so something really special in Gloucestershire.” Page 2 of 3 An open Q&A session identified some specific local issues including: 1. Lack of police response to requests for help with local speeding issues (Julian Moss promised to take this up personally outside of the meeting). 2. Ron Kirby (Nailsworth) pointed out the difficulty in maintaining community speedwatch patrols and asked how they should go forward. 3. Concerns were expressed regarding whether the police will have sufficient resource to be able to support multiple additional ANPR sites. 4. Minchinhampton councillors expressed the view that regarding the problem of cows being hit by cars, driver behaviour might more easily be modified if there was a high profile prosecution of a driver involved in such a collision, and that no prosecutions had yet been made. The organisers of the meeting confirmed the following actions: • A report of the meeting will be circulated to all attendees and Parish and Town Councils in the area. • A committee will be formed to agree the objectives and scope of the group, and to arrange the next meeting to start actioning the agreed objectives. • It was suggested that a delegated Road Safety Coordinator be appointed by each council wishing to join the group, to facilitate communications and future activities.
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