Highclere Parish Council motors ahead with plans to tackle speedsters

Culprits on A343 Andover road through the village main target

HIGHCLERE Parish Council is motoring ahead with plans to tackle drivers speeding through the village, particularly on the main A343 Andover Road.

At a recent meeting at Highclere Village Hall, councillors voted in favour of looking into the purchase of a static speed indication device (SID), to be mounted on a pole on the A343.

The move followed concerns raised by parishioners about the level and speed of traffic on the A343 through Highclere, including heavy goods vehicles on the main route between Andover and Newbury.

This came about after the parish council paid £2,000 for a mobile SID, towards which the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner contributed £1,000.

The total cost was split with neighbouring East Woodhay Parish Council. The two parish councils were joint owners of the mobile SID, but owing to a short battery life of four days, it was not suitable for this purpose.

Chairwoman Sally Izett said the mobile SID, which flashes up the speed of passing vehicles, had proved successful in East Woodhay, but had proved impractical on the A343.

Hampshire police informed the council it was not possible for the Speedwatch volunteers to operate at certain times over concerns it would clash with roads policing operations.

However, Mrs Izett told the Newbury Weekly News after the meeting that Hampshire police had since informed her that the Speedwatch volunteers would be permitted to operate on the A343 at days and times pre-arranged with police.

She said the Speedwatch volunteers would therefore be brought into action as soon as possible, most likely before the parish council’s next meeting in September.

Parish councillor Brad Cooper, newly co-opted at the meeting, immediately took on the task of overseeing Highclere’s Speedwatch project.

This was due to his previous experience with Speedwatch initiatives as an East Woodhay parish councillor.

Mr Cooper pointed out that the static SID would only provide visuals and data, and added: “You won’t get much out of it.”

Costs of the pole-mounted SID equipment were to be confirmed.

However, clerk Sue Edwards said available funds included £750 from last year’s Speedwatch budget, plus a similar amount from this year’ budget, as well as a possible £500 from county councillor Tom Thacker (Con Whitchurch and Clere) and from county councillors’ discretionary funds.

Highclere Parish Council would welcome any volunteers to join the village Speedwatch team. Contact clerk, Sue Edwards email clerk@highclere-pc.org.uk