The Isle of Wight Council is pushing the government to allow it to take over powers from the Police to clamp down on drivers exceeding the speed limit.
Frustration of not being able to fulfil residents’ wishes in making rural and village roads safer has prompted councillors to urge the Department of Transport to change the rules on speed enforcement.
A successful motion, tabled by Councillor Clare Mosdell to Full Council on Wednesday night, also called on ministers to grant the authority power to enforce weight and width restrictions on local roads too.
Councillor Mosdell said:
“In my ward we have managed to have a speed reduction put in place but this has caused further frustration for residents as many drivers continue to drive though these rural roads as if they were competing at Le Mans.
“There is no point in residents asking for speed limits to be reduced within their areas, however much it is a hot spot, until we have proper enforcement measures in place.
“It is a big ask to ask the government to give local authorities the power to enforce but at the moment, if you are walking on a rural road in a residential area with no pavement, you can at least hear the cars tearing towards you.
“What happens when all the cars are electric, silent and can still have the capacity to drive 50mph in a 30mph zone?”
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In the meantime, Cabinet members will consider the cost and feasibility of acquiring mobile average speed cameras for future use on the Island.
Council leader, Dave Stewart, said the motion reflected the concerns of many Island residents about the blatant disregard some motorists had for speed, weight and width restrictions. He said:
“I’m particularly keen to support the proposal to seek powers from government for enforcement as this is one of the main challenges for our stretched Island police service.
“I’m also keen to promote the availability of mobile average speed cameras here on the Island as they will better enable us to manage our response for matters such as vehicles speeding on the Military Road or elsewhere.”
At the same meeting, councillors unanimously backed a motion brought by Councillor Ian Ward, Cabinet member for transport and infrastructure, calling on the government to give the council enforcement powers to deal with pavement parking issues.
He said his motion followed instances where people had blatantly broken the rules by blocking the pavement causing problems for sight-impaired and disabled residents, as well as pram and pushchair users.
Yet the council will knowingly grant permission for THOUSANDS of extra houses to be built here, knowing full well that they will create multiples of thousands of extra cars on narrow, twisting roads built for carts, not cars.
So if speed limits are introduced and adhered too with so many more cars on unsuitable roads, queues, frustration and then more accidents will occur as soon a motorist leave these ‘wards’ where councillors coincidently live, as soon as the get the chance on other roads to ‘make up time’
Far better to have less homes, less cars, and less congestion, for cutting speed, does not make less traffic, and so, the slower the speed limit, the less gaps in traffic for others to pull out on side roads, and for people to be able to cross.
Cut the housing quota, cut the problems, and VOTE THIS COUNCIL OUT.
NEWCHURCH springs to mind.. 20 mph, what a joke..Drivers now appear to go faster . Try driving 20 mph and see how many cars are on your back bumper, trying to push you to go faster or speed up.
Babs, by putting ridiculous limits, they KNOW many people will break such, and then, IF our grubby little council take control of fines, we will see many more such limits, SAID to be made for ‘the little old lady’s benefit’ BUT in reality their own pension pot.
Vote these two faced creeps OUT.
We see it to a lesser degree along Sandown sea front by the Zoo. The Police are often there, were, in Winter months going over 30mph would cause little risk as there are no side roads, high wall on the seaward side and wide pavement and bleak landscape for most of the other.
YET, in the height of Summer, then 30mph is too fast at the Premier Inn end with children, elderly and hoards milling around that place.
Normal drivers adjust their driving speed by years of experience for such eventualities. So don’t need permanent signs, or sneaky traffic wardens, just less houses so the future traffic is not then just one continual stream.
Low life boy racers, drunks, druggies and ignorant will ignore any speed signage, and likely not pay any fines either.
Something needs to be done, and to me that something is limit housing, and have hidden cameras to hit those speeding dangerously, NOT just hit the easy relatively harmless ‘doing 23mph in a 20 limit to increase the pot of the greedy useless council.
Emergency brake, that’ll teach em rofl
Yes, Binstead Hill being a prime example. No 30mph signs on Binstead hill, Newport bound. Nearly every vehicle travelling through here over the limit. I recently asked Island Roads if just a sign could be put up and was told that it was a built up area, so drivers should know…. ?? Well they obviously don’t then. We have a park, constantly used by children whilst vehicles constantly speed past only feet away. Arreton has signs every 100m plus 30 marked on the road, but Binstead obviously not as important as we’re not even worthy of a sign. Blackwater again has a multiple signs along the main road. Does it need to be a serious injury to a child before something is done. Many people absolutely fed up of cars driving about over national speed limits, let alone local limits!!!
thed best not be avin nothin to do wid trafic speedin fines
likely hood thems all keep it for thems own gains.
neads less coucil not more of em
Sorry what are you actually saying in English
Sarcasm is lost on you
Great Preston Road is a SPEEDWAY, traffic Calming should be placed along this Road
John, the greedy council have that in hand. Building thousands more homes at B ullen, P enny Fe ather and expanding the industrial estate will cause such tail backs that traffic has no choice but crawl soon. VOTE them out.
I would never vote for the BULLY PARTY
Speeding can be an issue. Yes, lets not turn a blind eye to it but getting fines and point etc for doing like 3mph over the limit in a 40 is ridiculous. When you have 60mph back roads that then come straight down into 30mph how can you moan? Almost a slimy trap like when police sit round hidden bends, needing to make there quota.. Taking away speed cameras(even though they didnt have a camera in them) wasn’t exactly a smart move. Guess the council had to sell the scrap metal for expenses. I personally think more accidents are down to people not focused on the road, on there phone or talking to passengers, changing radio or sat nav. Or even drunk/drugged. Speed shouldnt be that much of a factor if you can actually drive and your brakes work. Its lack of concentration and not knowing the highway code thats more worrying! In my opinion anyway.
It seems very much of case of pot kettle black, the Isle of Wight Council are very quick (pardon the pun) Adopt a jurisdiction/powers that will draw income for them whilst punishing the local community, I fully respect and understand the need of cutting down vehicles speeding through our country lanes however if you give these powers to the over inflated egos of many people within the Isle of Wight Council (Dave Stewart’s old codgers mob) I am confident it would be abused they can’t be trusted as a council, many people know that the Isle of Wight Council has a reputation for being one of the most corrupt in the country. But also can I ask why the council are so keen to implement fines/penalisation on the community when they themselves are making overwhelming mistakes in spending of the public purse such as the chain ferry surely we should see the council being held to account as to their decisions which are very highly likely to be nepotistic/Brown envelopes in somebody’s back pocket, I am sure if our council was to be fully audited us to spend and who wins contracts we would see many panic resignations or sackings.
you got it rite daran
ones jus a jumpd up gyp
o he is vary well
noed for i legal doins in
privet busness so b wurst
in big monney that int hes
The councillors couldn’t care less how fast you drive – they just want three things..
diverting the funds from speeding tickets to their own coffers
more power to tell other people what to do and
to be able to increase their wages because of the new revenue stream of speeding fine money.
The forth advantage is to be able to allow close developer friends and other councillors to have any speeding ‘ignored’.
Would be like allowing an alcoholic to run all the pubs on the Island.
These people cannot be trusted.
Vote them out as power corrupts, but in this case they are one jump ahead already.
That’s just great, let the council become the police. Corrupt council running the police force, on the other hand, speed limits should be adhered to, and something needs to be done. How about just more real police.
Speed cameras are usually facing the on coming traffic to read the front number plate, so motorbikes which do not have a front number plate will never get a speeding ticket.
Thinks i might just change back to a motor bike.
All this is is a cash cow for the council to help pay for all their expensive mistakes they have and continue to make.
Councillor Mosdell believes many drivers continue to drive through these rural roads as if they were competing at Le Mans. Well I have never seen anyone driving around Arreton or Newchurch at 150 mph in a circle for 24 hours. I think she is exaggerating somewhat.
The council don’t care about safety, they are just using it to scrape every penny from the public. This council is a disgrace. Parking charges up, island roads putting up traffic lights for days with no work going on, floating bridge, B&Q roundabout, ridiculous planning approvals. Every councillor should be removed and so should MP Bob, the man who has zero interest in the island.
Its all going to be okay, I read on here that the council are planning to reduce cars on the road over the next few years.
They will do this by removing all the roundabouts and putting up so many traffic lights that cars will soon be an unviable mode of transport. Starting with St marys ‘traffic flow improvement scheme’
Before long it will take several days to get from one side of the island to the other. No one will want to drive then, thus reducing the number of cars.
Great idea, hope it happens.
I whole heartedly agree, many drivers do drive too fast on our roads, these drivers are an accident waiting to happen and something must be introduced to stop the speeding. So what has this moronic council got planned for the island….HUGE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS in Ryde. Absolutely unbelievable. This will create many more cars on the road which will obviously add to the problem. Vote these incapable so called councillors OUT. We need councillors who actually care about the future of the island and its residents. What we don’t need and want are huge housing developments filled with the dregs of society.
In the near future electric vehicles will be the norm so why not have in built speed control installed. Instead of speed cameras have speed controllers where the vehicle can’t exceed the given speed limit. We have the technology so why not. Just a thought.
I’ve often asked why it’s legal to sell vehicles that can exceed national speed limits ???
Overworked Police ?,only because this govenent has created so much admin and process and those who do get caught let off again by CPS and Courts. Surely speeding enforcement is down to Police, one officer catching half dozen drivers a day should cover his wage !. If left to council what would happen is council tax increase to pay for staff,a new manager equipment etc,like all these investments that they make, extra housing – more c/tax income yet every year it’s increased and not reduced, where do they spend this money ?. Speeding needs to be stopped yes,speed cameras need less human workers like self service tills,why did they do away. Surely can have them linked on line now day’s, not needing film etc.
Oh look another grubby little money making scheme being dressed up as ‘for the benefit of islanders’ when nothing will be further from the truth – it’s just another nasty scheme to throw their bureaucratic weight around and get even more powers to harass and penalise the residents they are laughingly supposed to serve. If you look at the amount of additional speed limits, yellow lines and parking restrictions they have already forced upon us over the last decade ‘for our own good’ you would think we lived in the safest place on earth instead of a shabby, badly run, housing development wonderland being made a little bit worse every time a council bureaucrat inflicts another of their ideas or schemes on us
Another grubby move by a car-hating Council to try and extract even more money out the poor motorist.
This council have proved themselvs incompetent (just look at the ongoing wight elephant fiasco ) i wouldn’t trust them with a traffic cone
Having read all the comments I have to say are the councillors beginning to feel a bit unwanted? Maybe a good time to demand scrutiny by the Government as we all feel they are very corrupt.
Nothing is stopping the council setting up check points and forwarding evidence gained to the police for action.
Of course the council wouldn’t get access to a lucrative revenue stream that way…
I can’t help remembering how fixed speed cameras went from being vital to unused overnight when the government decided to keep the fines for themselves.
Newport Road Lake a good candidate at night for racing idiots!
Binstead Hill is high risk, the majority of vehicles do break the speed limit by some margin! A simple low cost solution here is to put the traffic lights on permanent amber until pedestrians want to cross. Too easy I sense!
Monkton Street is an accident waiting to happen. So many speed down that road. Needs speed bumps and a 20mph limit with a speed camera. Also camera on at the traffic lights, so many people jumping the lights.
NO No No, Get more Policemen by all means but you can’t hand over that amount of authority to council employees, The police have already abdicated from parking duties even ignoring illegal parking on Double Yellows because the Council are supposed to be doing it !!!
Can the public stop the council from gaining this power?
Speeding? Most of us are lucky to hit 30 mph anywhere! This council cannot be trusted to run a bath why would we give them more powers?
A council run by butchers bakers and a furloughed candle stick maker i would be happy to transfer all powers to hampshire!