Hi Would it be posible to do a speedwatch along station road , the reason I ask is that there are a number of times when vehicles speed through and out of the chicane near the school towards the level crossing , they then hit the level crossing hard a then lose part of the car or part of the load which ends up in the road or on the path.
Sadly , the places where we can do a speedwatch are fixed by the Speedwatch cocordinator who has to carry out a risk assessment ! and for SR there are only 3 approved sites , one of which is by the level crossing in the Village but from past experience the number of hits has been minimised by the level crossing itself which acts as a speed bump. So most of the Speedwatch sessions have taken place at the other two as this is a better use of volunteer time.
More voulunters required please!!
I have heard however that there is or was a scheme which could install lights by or near the School and even ask for a 20 limit , which I would personally prefer to see operate at delivery and collection times only and perhaps we could ask our wonderful Town Council to raise this. Of course if we had our own parish Council and money this would be easy but instead the residents of Spooner Row enjoy the benefits of some additional security cameras in the Town centre.................
Just to let you know I was out walking my dog at 21.00 on wed evening and had reached the level crossing when a car came flying up the road from the Boars , hit the level crossing at an estimated speed of at least 50mph then proceeded to go through chicane at speed to the displeasure of another motorist ( the speeding car did not give way ) there was a lot of hooting of horns etc. As I mentioned before this is not un common.
Is it possible to do a Speedwatch session during the hours of darkness? An hour session between 6:00 - 7:00am would catch the drivers who speed daily on the Bunwell Road ..... mostly from the Bunwell direction!
This week there has also been alot of HGV traffic in the early hours of the morning who also don't think the speed limit (and it's associated noise control) applies to them.
Something needs to be done. Only yesterday morning (Saturday) I was overtaken by a car (dark blue vectra) between The Boars and the crossing because I was doing the speed limit. As much as I hate to say this it could of happened at school time and who knows what the consequences could of been.
After all the efforts that our Speedwatch team have put in for (up to now) apparently nothing, there is a ray of hope.
Planning Lighting & Highways Committee of WTC will debate on 5th November the possibility of buying a mobile SAM to share around (probably) seven locations, we being one.
A shared SAM is not all bad news. Because it's not always there, it's not ignored as part of the scenery after its first month of use. Each time it appears it is a change of view for the driver.
I append below a copy of the paper circulated to Councillors. In the limited time before the meeting I want it to be seen. This could be a useful return for the hard work Spooner Row residents have put in.
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WYMONDHAM TOWN COUNCIL PLANNING LIGHTING & HIGHWAYS COMMITTEE TUESDAY 5th NOVEMBER 2013
VEHICLE ACTIVATED SIGNS
Background Members will recall that following work undertaken by a Speed Monitoring Group in Spooner Row Cllr. Turner as the local member brought forward a proposal to the Council's Planning Lighting & Highways Committee on 2nd July 2013 that the Town Clerk be instructed to cooperate with local speed watch volunteers and Councillors in liaison with County and District Highways to explore the opportunity (including pricing comparisons) of bidding for the provision and installation of two Speed Awareness Monitoring machines, one each in Spooner Row and Silfield. A comprehensive report was submitted.
Present Position A meeting was held by the Town Clerk with Gary Overland (Norfolk County Council — Highways Engineer) and Cllr. Turners report was discussed. The outcome was that Mr Overland confirmed at that time the County Council did not have any funding. He did however advise that there was a possibility that the County Council would approve funding for the Parish Partnership scheme in 2014/15. It has now been confirmed that the County Council are making a pot of £200,000 available of which £50,000 has been allocated for the purchase of SAM 2 vehicle activated signs. SAM 2's are portable signs that can be moved easily to different locations and are battery powered. Investigation with the supplier has revealed the following: Cost of I machine £2,800 + VAT (comes with 2 rechargeable batteries, 1 bracket and a battery charger) Additional brackets £80 + VAT each Additional battery £80 + VAT The signs can be set for various speed limits and show the vehicles speed if under the preset limit, if the vehicle is travelling above the limit it flashes the speed plus 'SLOW DOWN'. It is recommended that the battery is changed once a week. Proposal The Town Clerk puts in a bid for 1 SAM2 Vehicle Activated Sign under the 2014/15 Parish Partnership bid. If successful the County Council will provide 50% of the cost with the Town Councils contribution therefore being £1400. Approval is given to purchase an additional 6 brackets at a cost of £80 each = £480. Funding is allocated from General Reserves. The brackets to be locate in the following locations subject to site approval by Norfolk County Council,
• Bunwell Road Spooner Row • Park Lane/ Silfield Road South Wymondham • Chapel Lane / Longlands Drive • Tuttles Lane West / Barnham Broom Road • Tuttles Lane East / Estelle Way • Browick Road / Gunton Road • Hewitts Lane (Near School)
on account of one member leaving the district and another being temporarily unavailable because of her confinement we are looking for more volunteers to do this.
Can you please contact me via my husband's e mail address
julianlawrence.halls@outlook.com
There is a requirement to fill in some forms and training will be given but the level of time commitment is about twice a month but if you are really keen we can do it more often. 3 Volunteers are required per session which at most last about an hour.
We have some low numbers reported recently which is good, but like all things if you do not keep up the pressure the racers ( boys and girls ) will think they can speed with impunity and it will only be a matter of time before someone or a child is seriously injured or killed
Thank you for this ANON , very helpful (not ) and could I please refer to the central message of my post which says we are short of volunteers.
Perhaps a post along the following lines might have been better;-
'Dear Speedwatch Team Thank you for all the hard work you are doing as volunteers in controlling this clearly anti social and selfish behaviour and I would love to assist you in this regard.
My details will be posted as instructed on the web site and I look forward to receiving the forms and training.
In the meantime if the Team could please consider doing an early morning session at ..................... ( very early means nothing I am afraid ) I would be very grateful and I would like to take part.'
signed..............
Whilst your post I am sure was not meant as a critiscism, it certainly seemed that way and was not addressing the central issue at hand, that we need more volunteers, or we will give up doing it altogether.
Sally, if I was physically capable of standing by the roadside for an hour (or more, if need be) I would be more than happy to volunteer and support this valuable initiative in our village, especially as I was instrumental in raising the issue of speeding in our village in the first place. Unfortunately at the moment it is not possible for me to do this, except perhaps from the "comfort" of a wheelchair with my arms (and the 'speed gun') propped up on crutches.
The volume of traffic, alot of which is very visibly (and audibly) speeding, along Bunwell Road are the early morning commuters who think the Community Speedwatch won't catch them. Early birds anytime from 6:00am onwards will catch plenty of worms.
My post was not a criticism, just a reiteration of the 4th October post which had been ignored.
Thank you for this and the contents are duly noted and the reasons why , in your particular case it would be difficult for you to volunteer.
The post of October 4th was missed I am afraid and deserves explanation.
The Team have to sign up to the Community Speedwatch rules which are really quite draconian and limiting, and as a user very frustrating.
We must do all activities in daylight
We must all wear high vis jackets
We must post signs warning drivers as to our presence
we cannot record drivers at the limit and the trigger point for recording is surprisingly high
we cannot do any speedwatch where road conditions place in danger either the driver or the team , so snow and ice and indeed heavy rain because of skid risk stop the show
we can only do the speedwatch at designated and approved sites because drivers need to be able to react, i.e. slow down, so long straight runs are necessary
Once we pass details onto the Community Speedwatch team they check the numbers , ignore the ones which do not make sense and I include in here any that might even be false plates, and currently do not process vehicles which are commercial lease. Apparently this is time consuming and difficult
The logic behind all of this is that we are there to educate , not to enforce and given the softly softly approach adopted to those who we do report you might think this is biased heavily in favour of the driver. I certainly do, but if we don't keep to the rules we lose the equipment , AND incidentally the SAM unit ( automatic speed display unit ) as well because it has to be overseen by a speedwatch team member.
The central premise of my e mail was a call for more volunteers and this remains the case, so if anyone wants to volunteer please do using my husband's e mail address please so confidentiality can be preserved.
I hope this has cleared up any misunderstanding but please be aware that the odd 'thank you' and 'please' goes a long way.
Through traffic in the mornings is becoming heavier and not all are obeying the village speed limits.
I have also seen people twice this year "launch" themselves over the crossing.
Talking to the Central Ticket Unit at Wymondham Police it seems that those speeding through a community speed watch check are issued a letter and then 3 letters triggers a visit from an officer. Maybe Sally could let us know how many letters relating to Spooner Row were issued last year and if anyone received a visit?
The police want to know the problem spots and times in order to target their response. So why don't we start posting specific issues on the board? For example "Dark blue 06 Ford Focus, Station Road safety gates, excessive speed @ 8.10 am"
Most people travel at similar times and driving behaviour is often the same, so a pattern should form quickly, then let’s see how the police deal with it.
Thank you for this Robert and adding your name to this post
Unfortunately the Speedwatch office do not release the number of letters they send or give us details of how many door knocks that actually result. The only information we get, and this took a fair bit of brow beating on our and other teams insistence, is the number of recorded cars reported, how many were or had a recognisable number plate that made sense, and whether these number of reports result in an officer attending who can issue a ticket on the spot or subsequently by post.
How many tickets were issued, by this officer, we have only just been notified for the first time ever , and I hope this will continue on a monthly basis . For 16 sites across Norfolk , Bunwell road had 7 tickets issued which is the 5th highest total and the office have now asked us to collect raw numbers of cars speeding in the 2 MPH band lower than the reportable trigger level. No I am not going to divulge that here.
As far as 'specific issues' you refer to which is almost naming a shaming, are concerned we have been warned to keep well away from this, but we do report offensive gestures ( public order) and mobile phone use but through the normal channels. What happens to those we simply do not hear about.
I hear what you are saying but we must stick by the rules and our role is apparently education not enforcement
We have completed three sessions recently , two of which were very low or nil reports on Chapel road ( well done drivers as well as volunteers ) but we are now being asked to record drivers who were 2 mph below the trigger point. No reg numbers but just raw data and on all occassions there were a number of drivers who feel they need to push the envelope , as it were and this was certainly not a zero report situation.
That is the good(ish) news. The Bad news is that for the last session of the three we moved to Bunwell road and once again had 7 reports and one lady driver who quite clearly was late for a hair appointment or something and decided that 51 is a perfectly acceptable speed to drive in a 30.
Before I immediately get haranged for being sexist, the remainder recorded were below 42 and the 'offending' drivers on the whole were of both genders that we could see. It is the car that gets reported, but the good lady gets a special mention as she must have seen the signs, probably has young chuildren and made absolutely no attempt whatsoever to slow down on our account. There is no excuse for this and let us hope the next time is it an officer who at that level will almost certainly refer the matter to court and officers are not required to put out warning signs and have a much lower threshold when it comes to speeding offences.
For info the fine for speeding is now £100 plus 3 points but in the low zone a course can be offered but this has to be paid for. For high zone offences the matter is referred to court where large fines and points greater that 3 are the norm. Mid zone offences get the 3 points plus the £100 but the boundary is flexible, so abusing an officer is not a good idea and the decision to refer or to issue straight fine and points is a matter for the officer. The course is only offered once in a 3 year period.
I am sure some will feel that this 'holier than thou' attitude is incredibly irritating. I am sorry if you feel that way and I admit that I do try to stick to the limits myself wherever I am driving but it can be easy to miss a sign. If I may therefore, some sensible advice to offer. In a thirty put the car in 3rd gear. In a fourty 4th gear and if you are lucky enough to have cruise control fix the car speed at the limit you are driving in. This might seem slow at times and very frustrating but it can work out to be much cheaper and in reality you save very little time by going that bit faster
Great in theory if you drive a car with a manual transmission and the revs/torque in the right places Not so great if you drive an automatic :-
"I am sure some will feel that this 'holier than thou' attitude is incredibly irritating. I am sorry if you feel that way and I admit that I do try to stick to the limits myself wherever I am driving but it can be easy to miss a sign. If I may therefore, some sensible advice to offer. In a thirty put the car in 3rd gear. In a fourty 4th gear and if you are lucky enough to have cruise control fix the car speed at the limit you are driving in. This might seem slow at times and very frustrating but it can work out to be much cheaper and in reality you save very little time by going that bit faster"
Personally I also try to drive within the speed limit but I'm becoming paranoid about i) missing a limit sign because of the overload of signs proliferating on our roads and ii) having an accident because I'm looking at my dashboard to watch my speed rather than the road
Not so great if you drive an automatic 
:-
