Chippenham traffic calming bid accelerates (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
Get involved! Send photos, video, news & views. Text WILTS GAZETTE to 80360 or email us
Chippenham traffic calming bid accelerates
1:00pm Saturday 12th May 2012 in Chippenham
Coun Bill Douglas wants 20mph areas
Councillor Bill Douglas will take his campaign to slow traffic in streets with schools in to the next community area transport group on May 21.
The councillor hopes to roll out the 20 is Plenty campaign in two areas, Monkton Park and Wood Lane and Webbington, to test how effective it is at making drivers think twice about child safety.
He said that in Monkton Park, where there are two schools and only one main entry to the estate, the costs could be around £1,500 to provide signs at the entrances to the area.
“I have had strong public support for this campaign,” said Coun Douglas.
“These are high pedestrian areas with many children – they are also primary school areas which means children and parents who do not live in the immediate area often drive in. Both areas are suitable for the first stages of 20 is Plenty.”
The councillor said he had received a letter from the Chippen-ham Children’s Parliament backing the campaign.
Coun Mary Fallon believes the initiative will have particular benefit in the Monkton Park area, where she lives.
“It is particularly dangerous as people use Eastern Avenue and Sadlers Mead as a rat run,” she said.
“I wish we could do this at all the primary schools in Chippenham. I’d also love to see it at our secondary schools.”
Father-of-three Mike Flay said he understood there were just two lollipop ladies in North Wiltshire.
“This is a crazy shortage of staff to help our children safely cross the road,” he said.
“Someone somewhere needs to deal with this quickly before another youngster is hurt or even killed.”
However, Jane Clark of the Chippenham and Villages Area Partnership said the initiative shouldn’t be confined to the town when the villages are also desperately in need.
“The children in some of our villages cannot play, they cannot walk to school, they cannot cycle anywhere, because it is just too dangerous,” she said.
Comments(23)
mcrae167
says...
2:28pm Sat 12 May 12
All this "Fear uncertainty and doubt" (or FUD) compaigning is absurd. With remarks like "its just a matter of time", well guess what, its just a matter of time before the sun burns itself out, so maybe we should all build space ships to escape - that's just as relevant, but even more so because the entire human race is at risk.
yoR
says...
2:34pm Sat 12 May 12
chrisbizarre
says...
3:46pm Sat 12 May 12
yoR
says...
4:25pm Sat 12 May 12
Roy-Orbit of Chippenham
says...
4:37pm Sat 12 May 12
commonasmuck
says...
5:41pm Sat 12 May 12
notscot
says...
8:17pm Sat 12 May 12
No that's right - there isn't one. There is one just off Canal Rd - the road that dolts were speeding up & down in LONG before the numpty councillor started whining about Webbington.
Just love to know how 20mph signs are going to be effective for the school - 1/4 mile away in Webbington...
Cyril Clunge
says...
9:16pm Sat 12 May 12
Phorever
says...
12:03am Sun 13 May 12
A village where 90% of the traffic is sodding horses.
Thinking about it, maybe its a good thing. The police could then charge the horse owners for littering when the horses have a dump on the road.
You see red bins in the street for dog poo, but none for horse poo. Yet I have never skidded onto the wrong side of the road due to dog poo on a bend.
notscot
says...
7:19am Sun 13 May 12
Phorever wrote:Police?!! There aint enough police to cover a village more than once in 4 weeks!!! Probably a local version of traffic watch - NHW with hi-vis vests - makes the local pc's feel important - and gives the nhw members something to feel important about.
I wonder if this is the chap responsible for police setting up speed traps in East Tytherton 4 times in the past 3 weeks.
A village where 90% of the traffic is sodding horses.
Thinking about it, maybe its a good thing. The police could then charge the horse owners for littering when the horses have a dump on the road.
You see red bins in the street for dog poo, but none for horse poo. Yet I have never skidded onto the wrong side of the road due to dog poo on a bend.
Phorever
says...
10:16am Sun 13 May 12
notscot
says...
9:05pm Sun 13 May 12
Phorever wrote:Darn! Must have tripped over a coppers rest-stop. He's probably asleep, mate.
I thought that at first. But the big Honda CRV with battenburg colouring and the word POLICE on each side sort of gave the game away.
Gazetter 1
says...
8:47am Mon 14 May 12
mcrae167 wrote:Well said !, I wonder if he had anything to do with the traffic calming on the London Road by the Cemetery which at peak times is a waist of time as traffic just clogs up. Traffic that has to give way do not causing the driver who has the right of way to suddenly brake to avoid an accident.
This joker just won't let up. Wasting all that money on bumps in Webbington Road, now wants to spend more money on a speedlimit that everyone will ignore and where there isn't resource to police it.
So I guess his beloved bumps had no affect whatsoever and wants to p*ss a load more money up the wall trying to promote his profile with so called "safety measures".
For god sake everyone vote this idiot out.
antmanrob
says...
1:33pm Mon 14 May 12
Lets make chippenham (as this is what this acticle is talking about) a 20MPH speed zone.
Just think of all the moeny they would save on not having to consult each time. lmao.
I agree with speed restriction but they have to be enforced. Cos you still get stupid **** would over take people doing the speed limit.
Police Offices not bumps or islands.
To Quote " Give them the rope and they will hang themselfs"
chips-in-ham
says...
3:03pm Mon 14 May 12
judgeatnam
says...
5:03pm Mon 14 May 12
chips-in-ham wrote:Such a sensible man! There is a well paid job waiting for you in Greece!!
I have a couple of comments. Firstly in the pic above he's stood at a zebra crossing that was perfectly safe until they built those houses there obstructing drivers view. Secondly TEACH the little brats i mean children how to walk on a pavement and how to cross a road, and thirdly tell parents to stop being lazy idiots and walk their children to school, that way there will be less drivers on the road and school rush hour making it safer to walk to school. Wahey i'm a genius!
By the way, since the houses were built by the Little George, one person has been killed and another seriously injured on the crossing in the photo. Sort that one out Mr. Councillor man because on this ocassion "its only a matter of time" has already been passed......twice.
yoR
says...
6:44pm Mon 14 May 12
chrisbizarre
says...
9:36pm Mon 14 May 12
yoR wrote:Well that is interesting. I wonder if that could cause a problem for him regarding conflict of interest. Some investigative journalist should take up the case and expose him for what he really is. I wouldn't surprise me to find out he has shares in a bus company or something suitably anti-motorist. Antmanrob, As far as a 20mph blanket speed limit goes, we will all need deeper pockets. It is a fact that a car uses more fuel when being driven at 20 than when driven at 30. Not to mention the extra pollution that will be created. Suddenly you will have to drive in 3rd instead of 4th. Extra revs = more money and more pollution.
The ONLY sure way to prevent people getting hurt or killed by cars is to stop cars from moving. Oh wait, that's what Douglas wants... nothing to do with the financial interest he has in a property in Webbington drive then.
mcrae167
says...
12:10am Tue 15 May 12
chrisbizarre wrote:Well funnily enough, the traffic calming in Webbington Road was seriously over priced (apparently?) from the contractor that was awarded the work, and that was direct from a company in Swindon that usually does this stuff for Wiltshire, they couldn't understand why the price was so high. When Douglas was quizzed on the choice of contractor and asked about this, according to sources, he dodged the question completely and got all indignant and pugnacious. He never actually denied personal benefit (but never confirmed it either), but was quick to deride the question.
yoR wrote:Well that is interesting. I wonder if that could cause a problem for him regarding conflict of interest. Some investigative journalist should take up the case and expose him for what he really is. I wouldn't surprise me to find out he has shares in a bus company or something suitably anti-motorist. Antmanrob, As far as a 20mph blanket speed limit goes, we will all need deeper pockets. It is a fact that a car uses more fuel when being driven at 20 than when driven at 30. Not to mention the extra pollution that will be created. Suddenly you will have to drive in 3rd instead of 4th. Extra revs = more money and more pollution.
The ONLY sure way to prevent people getting hurt or killed by cars is to stop cars from moving. Oh wait, that's what Douglas wants... nothing to do with the financial interest he has in a property in Webbington drive then.
Also the original plan in Webbington was not to have zebra crossing as the minister for transport ruled it was an unsafe position due to restricted visibility. Then the moment the bumps went in a plan to rush through the zebra crossing appeared over night, the excuse was "We don't need visibility as the traffic will be slow over the bumps", so clearly now that's not the case as they want to lower the limit. This means the road is more dangerous now and the crossing is currently in an unsafe position.
Oh yes and Douglas pushed through the "calming" on the London road, which then had 22 accidents in a short space of time on a road previously where there was none.
Douglas is a public menace, he pushes things through by devious back door means, which no one wants, to promote his political career.
Rather than waste money on Webbington, why not fix the HUGE pot holes on the one way system past the cinema.
Douglas is a social and economic menace.
The
mcrae167
says...
12:18am Tue 15 May 12
Its quite interesting to see the plethora of "for sale" signs that have appeared over recent months in Webbington, I guess the residents are completely hacked off with Douglas's motoring assault course.
I drive along Webbington regularly, several times a day, I think the calming has been in a year now, and yes, I have had to stop at the Zebra crossing umm... let me count... hmm yes, NEVER. So that badly needed crossing for the hundred's of school children every day, never really stacked up.
Funnily enough this fact was pointed out to Douglas before it all went in and was ignored
mcrae167
says...
1:03pm Wed 16 May 12
Webbington Road had a 100% safety record until the bumps went in. Motorist distracted by bumps and dodging the "calming" pose a risk. Remove the bumps, remove the risk. This is all the evidence we need to revert the road back to its former proven safe state and Clr Douglas should resign immediately. Douglas was specifically warned about the dangers the bumps pose to cyclists, and he dismissed those claims.
http://www.gazettean
dherald.co.uk/news/9
708159.Cyclist_serio
usly_hurt_in_collisi
on_with_van_in_Chipp
enham/
KeithPound
says...
9:49pm Wed 16 May 12
mcrae167 says...
2:24pm Sat 12 May 12
So I guess his beloved bumps had no affect whatsoever and wants to p*ss a load more money up the wall trying to promote his profile with so called "safety measures".
For god sake everyone vote this idiot out.