Too fast and too heavy!

At the Safer Neighbourhood Team Priority Setting Meeting in April  a complaint was raised by a resident, who I think actually lives in Newton, about speeding cars and overweight lorries using the Valley Road that runs between Chilton and Great Waldingfield to the A134.

As a result the police have been carrying out speed checks on the road, and at the last SNT Meeting in Long Melford we heard some fairly shocking, but not unsurprising, statistics about speeding in both directions along the road.  I am indebted to Peter Clifford for the most up to date figures which I set out below:

Over 8 days, 43,265 vehicles travelled along the road of which 2862 exceeded the speed limit of 60 mph.

503 exceeded 69 mph and could have been fined if stopped.

One vehicle was recorded at doing 97 mph!

The Police have requested their traffic team to institute random speed checks and they will fine anyone caught exceeding 68 mph.

As far as overweight lorries are concerned, it has been suggested by Trading Standards that a Lorry Watch scheme be set up, and I understand that we already may have a co-ordinator for this.   Lorry Watch is being introduced to replace Trading Standards Officers who, in the past, have done an excellent job at monitoring roads which, despite weight restrictions, are plagued by illegally heavy lorries.   It is a system that relies on volunteers, so a call for help in and around Valley Road is probable in due course.

I have been in touch with Suffolk County Council for information about this scheme and was disappointed to hear that they do not have a definitive map from which members of the public, or it seems officers themselves, can easily and quickly discover where there are weight restrictions across the County.   I have asked them to supply me with full information about Waldingfield Ward, but so far have not received any hard facts.  We do know for a certainty however that Valley Road is weight restricted.

I will make no comment on this, other than to say that the ‘divestment’ programme at the County does seem to have shown up some strange shortfalls in the County Council’s knowledge base.

The fact that officers from another department were unaware that part of the Lavenham-Long Melford Railway Walk extended into Essex is another example.