Council finds no proof to back up speeding concerns

People living along a busy road have raised concerns over speeding drivers and claimed their local authority is "failing" in its duty of care - but the council says there's no proof of a problem.

Concerns from a residents' group in Grange Road in Ellesmere, Shropshire, about speeding on the A528 were raised at a town council meeting.

Ellesmere town council clerk Jo Butterworth said speed checks "failed to identify a problem" and an issue would need to be confirmed before Shropshire Council could consider a speed limit reduction.

Shropshire Council said the road had been added to its priority list for consideration and the existing 40mph limit would have been seen as appropriate.

Minutes of a town council meeting said Grange Road residents had written to the town council saying they were willing to take legal action against Shropshire Council over the issue.

As well as speeding, they raised concerns about street lights on the road which they said had not been working for 18 months "despite constant reassurance from the highways team".

The papers said that Shropshire Council was currently looking at replacing all lights in the county with LEDs.

The minutes recorded that only one accident has been recorded on Grange Road to date and surveys had "consistently failed to demonstrate speeding".

Ms Butterworth said a proven problem had to be identified "before Shropshire Council can consider the request for the reduction in speed limit and this has not been possible".

She suggested residents form a community speed watch initiative in partnership with police, where trained volunteers monitor and report speeding vehicles.

A Shropshire Council spokesman said: "This site has no related speed accident history and therefore would not be classed as a 'high priority' for our traffic engineering team budget at this time.

"The existing introduction of a 40mph speed limit would have been seen appropriate for the nature of the road, environment, and use, which is very similar to many other locations around the county."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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