Where can I go if the local Council refuse to help?

Firegod

Firegod

Firegod

Soldato
Joined
12 Sep 2003
Posts
10,715
Location
Newcastle, UK
Hi all

I've been back and forth with the traffic management department of our local council about a road oustide our property. At our end, the speed limit is 40 mph past the properties leading into 60 mph stretch which then reaches the other village and the speed changes from 60 mph down to 20 mph and you then have a set of speed bumps. Our end does not have this. We are harrased by speeding vehicles (screeching tyres and what have you as they come flying past heading into the 60 mph stretch). So I asked them if we could be setup the same as the other end of the road. Make it so it is 20 mph and then have a set of bumps to make people slow down past the properties leading away into the 60 mph zone. It took years to get them to put some speed monitoring strips down to which they said everything was OK and no one was speeding. I tried to explain that they had put the device down on a bend (where naturally cars are slowing before accelerating) and could it be moved to outside our house (it wasn't moved). Then mid-way through the monitoring of the speed, the device broke (one of the two straps came away from the road and ended up on the footpath). Again I said can it be repaired and the test re-ran as the data would be invalid. It was not.

I reached out to them again recently saying things were the same to be told the council position hadn't changed on the matter since back in 2021. Apparently if there was a crash or an accident this would change things (seems rather reactive than proactive). I also explained we have horses using the road (not by themselves lol) and also cyclists in groups and that it was dangerous with cars swerving around them at speed).

Is there anything else I can do or is it a case of put up and shut up? Can I escalate this further?

Thanks for any advice.
 
Make a complaint to the police about boy racers. They'll set up a speed trap and work out if its a cash cow or an accident risk. Councils wont spend money on a "just in case". They need it to feed the OAP's
 
mattyg said:
Make a complaint to the police about boy racers. They'll set up a speed trap and work out if its a cash cow or an accident risk. Councils wont spend money on a "just in case". They need it to feed the OAP's
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Thanks that's a good idea. My slight concern is that because the road speed at the moment is so high (not 20 mph like the other end), the cars could be coming past but still fall within the law. It's a tricky one with this end of the road being 40 into 60. :(
 
is it worth going to the press?

if you have smaller members of family that use that road you can get local newspaper to write newspaper article along the lines of 'menacing racers threaten kids at certain road, lives at risk. blah blah blah'

it will at least get the council to actually pay attention to the issue
 
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To get the council to listen you need to do the following,

Wait for the next car speeding past then throw a small child in front of it.

This will then make the council take notice of your problem

The council always wait until something serious happens before they do anything about it

So do you have any spare kids kicking about?
 
COYS said:
Email your local Councillor. Even better, get a group of you to all do it.
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200sols said:
Cyclists and horses wont be unique to your road, you'll need something better than that.
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Thanks I think I may have tried the local councillor before and heard nothing back. I'll try that approach again.

The bit about horses and cyclists is I read in a council document that for roads where these are prevelant that the limit can be set to 20 mph and shouldn't be 40 mph / 60 mph. So I mentioned that to them but they just ignored that comment.
 
So you're unhappy about the 60mph limit or that your part is 40mph? Has it always been 40mph or have they changed it since you moved in?
 
Firegod said:
We do have birds around here but sadly more of the feathered kind. :)
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Nah, they're no bloody good. Gotta be the sort you'd see in a "Carry On" film. Expert coquettish wigglers. The sort I mutter "Well hellllo" to under my breath in my best Leslie Phillips voice ;)

Sadly I don't see many around Whitchurch.... :(
 
ik9000 said:
So you're unhappy about the 60mph limit or that your part is 40mph? Has it always been 40mph or have they changed it since you moved in?
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Not unhappy no. The speed limit has always been here for the many many years we've lived here. Just had a sudden surge last few years with wreckless drivers. They've altered far end of the road for one village (20 mph and speed bumps before entering) but won't amend our end. And we can't understand why the reluctance.
 
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