SPEEDING IN ST CLEER PARISH
(September 2020)
After a long delay created by the need for appropriate posts to be placed in and around St Cleer; which has now been done – we are at long last able to proceed with the purchase of our mobile speed camera.
The camera will rotate between all 9 sites, staying in place for 6 weeks at a time as this is what is considered to be most impactful on reducing speeding behaviour. The type of cameras that Parish can have are not the ones that offer penalty points and charges; they are aimed entirely at changing bad driving behaviour and reminding motorists of the limit in a particular area. It does however collect data that we can then feed back to Cornwall over time to put a case to them for other initiatives and measures
Unlike early camera varieties, which told drivers what their speed registered at; this one will simply offer the limit and a flash warning. Those of you who may have encountered the actual speed registered might be interested to know that this seemed to provide a challenge for ‘hot rods’ to see what they could ‘score’.
There are significant rules in place for where cameras of this type can be placed; they can only be in the settlements themselves. They cannot be placed in rural settings or where the national speed limit applies. The map of sites we have shows you the only sites in St Cleer that Highways and Devon and Cornwall Constabulary agreed to us using. Had we been in control, there would undoubtedly be many more sites noted.
This project; which was agreed to at Parish over a year ago is a case in point as to just how long it can take to get things moving. In this case there was a grants process to Cornwall which was successful and means that the cost of the installation on the poles (Approx £200 each) was met by grant. Then there was the wait for installation which was delayed by Covid. I have progressed the camera order today (as we didn’t want it sitting in a cupboard using up its guarantee!) to find that there will be a delay from the supplier.
However, we are nearly there and we hope that it will have the desired effect. Just to remind you, as an individual you can video speeding drivers with your mobiles / dash cams and upload the complaints to Operation Snap.