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End of road in view for speed cameras
End of road in view for speed cameras
Jan 7 2011 by Paul Tully, The Journal

PLANS to get rid of roadside speed cameras in Northumberland will be debated this month.

A major meeting of a number of groups, including Northumberland County Council and the police, will debate the value of the cameras as budget cuts loom.
Town and parish councils across the county will also be asked for their views at the meeting of the Communities and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee in Stannington village hall on January 25.

Committee chairman Coun Glen Sanderson said the threat of reduced funding for road safety had thrown the issue of speed cameras into focus.
He said it was now a “serious issue” and added: “I have invited the Northumbria Police area commander as well as local groups plus the speed camera partnership and people who represent communities on the ground”.
Although there is no firm proposal at this stage to remove the cameras, as five other authorities in England have done, all options are up for discussion.

Coun Sanderson added: “I have invited the police to give their views on the effectiveness of speed cameras, and also if there are alternatives for us to consider.
“Speeding is a persistent problem – people driving at excess speeds are an absolute pest for local people and any reduction in funding would be a serious issue.
“A lot of people don’t want to see speed cameras taken away, but we need a full and frank discussion.
“I personally don’t think there are any alternatives to speed cameras. They annoy many people but they are effectively a deterrent. It’s important that we don’t throw them out just to try to save money. But we need to be clear about what the alternatives are.”

Electronic speed alert signs - said by anti-camera campaigners to be cheaper - are among alternatives adopted elsewhere, including Swindon, which last year got rid of all its speed cameras amid claims they were only there to make money for the authorities.

Buckinghamshire and Somerset have also decided to remove their cameras, while South Yorkshire is trialling it. Oxfordshire, which removed 72 of its 89 cameras last August, is talking of reinstalling them by April.

Claire Armstrong, Founder of the Safe Speed campaign group which opposes speed cameras, said: “We want to see their complete removal.
“There isn’t any place in road safety for speed cameras and they are threatening people’s licences and livelihoods.
“The cameras divert attention and there has even been a death at a camera location. We don’t advocate that people break the law, but if you do it wrong, you do not reduce accidents.”

Government funding cuts will almost certainly hit the national £17.2m capital grant fund which finances speed cameras. A quarter of cuts in transport funding have to be achieved by 2014.

Jeremy Forsberg, communications manager of the Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative, said: “We are happy to discuss the situation at the January meeting. This is about getting the best value for money and achieving best value for taxpayers.
“We are looking at a wide variety of schemes but 38% of people surveyed have said they want more speed cameras and only 13% say they want fewer.”

Last night Northumbria Police Chief Supt Mark Dennett confirmed: “I will be attending the meeting to discuss the future use of speed cameras in the county.”