Heather Kidd, Shropshire Councillor for Chirbury and Worthen, has condemned the poor standard of co-operation between Shropshire Council and the Police in enforcing speed limits in rural villages. This follows a study that shows that motorists habits has hardly changed in four years.
In survey after survey speeding is shown to be the number one complaint made by villagers in Shropshire. In 2009 I conducted a series of trials in two villages in my Division, Worthen and Marton, using devices to measure the speed of motorist passing through. I found that a significant minority broke the limit, some blatantly so. A similar exercise last month found that little had changed despite occasional enforcement by the police.
What would really make a difference is a properly co-ordinated approach by both the Shropshire Council and the Police. At present the police blame the Council for not putting in the necessary engineering works (signs and traffic calming) and the Council blames the police for not taking enforcement measures. It’s a vicious circle which leaves local residents to suffer.