The next step in our campaign to slow traffic in and around the village is to set up a Community Speed Watch group. Suffolk Constabulary highly recommends this approach and provides guidance for groups..
The purpose would be to:
- provide data to the police on speed in specific sites in the village
- act as a deterrent to drivers who do not observe legal limits and to trigger the issuing of warning letters and action from the police for repeated offences
- trigger the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition devices supervised by the police to help enforce speed limits if the police deem this necessary
We need a rota of volunteers to carry out speed checks on a regular basis. We envisage Speed Watch events taking place fortnightly at different locations and times but this is completely dependent on having a sufficient number of community volunteers. The police recommend a group of at least 6 to make this viable.
As part of a Community Speed Watch programme, trained volunteers verify and record the registration number of vehicles seen breaking the speed limit. Details are forwarded to the Safety Camera Partnership within 48 hours. A ‘warning letter’ is then sent to the registered owner of the vehicle, requesting them to keep their speed down. If the vehicle is seen and recorded again a second and final letter will be sent. Persistent offenders may be targeted further
All training and equipment is supplied free of charge by the police. If you would like to know more or are able to support this important community action we would love to hear from you. Please contact the parish clerk in the first instance: clerk@walshamlewillowsparish.gov.uk
Find more information here: https://tinyurl.com/suffolk-police-speedwatch