A Llantarnam resident is worried for the safety of pedestrians after a series of incidents where cars have mounted the pavement outside her and her neighbours’ homes.
Wendy Reynolds has seen four cars wreck the hedge or railings that run along her boundary. She lives on the junction of Llantarnam Road and Newport Road. In the latest incident in the early hours of Saturday 26 March 2022 a car was filmed on CCTV with sparks flying off it after losing a wheel.
Video of the incident on 26 March 2022
She said: “That car continued on three wheels to the bus stop by the Greenhouse. You could see the marks on the road.”
A Gwent Police spokesman said: “We received a call regarding an abandoned car in Newport Road, Cwmbran, at around 4.40am on Saturday 26 March. Officers attended and located the car – a blue Mini Cooper – which was also damaged as it was missing one of its wheels. A metal fence was also found in the road.”
Cars have mounted the pavement at this junction
Ms Reynolds took photos of three other incidents at this junction:
- May 2019 – A car crashed through railings into the garden of Brook House
- Feb 2020 – A car crashed through railings at Brook House
- August 2020 -A car crashed into a stone wall belonging to Old School House
- March 2022 – A car wrecked the railings at Garden Cottage
She added: “It’s scary when you see something like that coming down the road. We are waiting for an occasion when there is a pedestrian on that spot. You frequently hear cars screeching around and bouncing off the curb.”
Her friends were walking on the pavement before the August 2020 incident. She said: “My friends hadn’t long walked past with their little girls, just 30 seconds earlier. I dread to think about what could have happened. It beggars belief that we had nothing and then in the last three years we have had four. It’s s big wide corner.
“That corner needs something to protect pedestrians and homes. In our minds, we are thinking of raised curbs or bollards on the edge to stop them from getting on the pavement. There there are bollards on the opposite corner by the new flats.
“I don’t know how these people have survived these accidents. These are spear-pointed railings, if one went through the bottom of a car it’s going to really hurt.
“It’s been three insurance jobs on the same set of railings. We had a meeting from Cadw yesterday as they are listed. We are in the Llantarnam conservation area. We’ve had to get like-for-like replacements. We can’t put anything that would offer more protection as it’s got to be identical. There is very little of the original fence left.
“I worry there will be a fatality there one day. ”
A Torfaen Council spokesperson said: “We’re working with the Community Council, who are considering the funding of three new Speed Indicator Devices, and have provided them with plans and costs to consider. We continue to have road safety discussions with residents, the Police and GoSafe and we have arranged a site meeting to further consider concerns and potential mitigations. Gosafe have also carried speed surveillance in the area, targeted around the times of previous incidents.”
