South Anston residents petition council over speeding drivers

More than 260 people have signed the petition, which was set up by Dr Diana Gaubert to urge the council to take measures to crack down on speeding drivers on the B6059.

Presenting the petition to the council at a virtual meeting on June 4, Dr Gaubert said: “I started this petition because residents of Crowgate and West Street in South Anston were very concerned about the traffic speeds, and the possible consequences.

“Speed has been a problem for this area for a long time, and there have been lots of complaints in the past.

“The situation now is that the speeds are so excessive that some action is needed.

“We’re getting speeds of 40 miles per hour to 60mph very commonly, and sometimes see even higher speeds when the cars are actually racing against each other.

“Andrew Lee, at the council, has been really very helpful and has arranged an activated speed sign which has been up now for several months.

“However, I have to report it hasn't had very much effect. I tend to find that eight out of 10 of the cars exceed the limit. The sign itself only indicated 30mph and says slow down and I don't think that has much impact.

“We've also had input from police community support officers who have visited twice.

“They were very pleased because we had a really good turn out of people who wanted to attend and find out what the situation was.

“Although they worked very hard and were very helpful, the recordings don't, to be honest, reflect the current speeds.

“I’d like to thank Coun Clive Jepson, who has been very helpful on giving advice in this situation.

"Why does speed matter so much in this village? Well the main reason is because we are so very close to the traffic.

“The pavements are very narrow, to be honest they're not very well maintained, and pedestrians have to walk in single file because the road is so narrow.

“The volume of traffic has increased hugely in recent years. It includes many more HGVs and car transporters, and the road really has become a rat run for access to the A57.

“It’s obviously worse in the extended rush hours and there are long queues now between the Todwick Roundabout and South Anston, so cars are naturally trying to find quicker ways to get to the A57.

“We are the only village around here that has no traffic calming measures at all.

“It’s fortunate we haven't had any fatalities. It's only a matter of time before we do. I hope you will be able to forward these matters to the appropriate agencies for action to be taken.”

Councillors voted to refer the petition to officers to provide a response.

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