Councillors from Cwmbran Community Council plan to continue their work to reduce speeding on the town’s roads by installing more speed indicator devices.
In June they approved a project to fit the devices to Blenheim Road, Station Road and Llantarnarm Road at a cost of about £13,000. The devices alert drivers if they are travelling above the legal 30mph speed limit.
At this evening’s policy & finance committee meeting Councillor Rhiannon Bennett, Coed Eva Ward and committee chair, said there was money available for more devices.
Cllr Chris Morgan, Lowlands & Avondale Ward, said it was important not to rely on anecdotes about speeding problems and suggested it might be worth investing in speed data tests to confirm there is a problem in any suggested locations.
Cllr Bennett said there were processes to check if a “perception” was a “genuine problem”. She said that schools will have evidence from their work to create safe walking routes to schools: “Get out and talk to our community. If things have been flagged, follow that up, make a good case”, Cllr Bennett told councillors.
Cllr Simmonds said that when he was out campaigning for the Two Locks by-election in September, the canal was the “top priority” but “this was followed by “speeding on Hollybush Way.”
Cllr Anthony Bird said they used a freedom of information request from Gwent Police to find the “hot spots” for speeding so the previous decisions “were backed up by evidence.”
Cllr Leanne Lloyd-Tolman, Upper Cwmbran Thornhill Ward, said there was a fatal car incident in her ward last year.
Councillor Fay Jones, St Dials Ward, said they should meet the police to find out about speed prevention measures and said she was involved in a serious car accident.
Councillor Kebba Manneh, St Dials Ward, said they could develop a “budget line” for future speed prevention projects.
Cllr Morgan said the police could be given a list of questions and asked to come to a future full council meeting with the data.
Minutes from a previous meeting said that the three devices they agreed in June had been ordered but there was a delivery problem from Germany. Council officers said they would arrive in the next two to three weeks and installing them would then be a ‘priority’.
In September councillors from Henllys Community Council decided to fit devices to three sites along Henllys Way.
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