Speed cameras set to stay

Published 25 Aug 2010 08:30 0 Comments

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SPEED cameras are set to stay in Bracknell borough despite reports this weekend that they could be axed.

It was reported that Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) would be leaving the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership (TVSRP), which operates the cameras, but the council has since said it has no immediate plans to withdraw, despite a £51,000 cut in government funding to the council for road safety.

Wokingham Borough Council, which is also a member of the partnership, has said though that it may be forced to leave at the end of this financial year.

Vincent Paliczka, director of environment, culture and communities at BFC, said: “BFC has agreed that the £51,000 reduction of government grant can be absorbed within the partnership’s reserve budget for this year.

“Other than this, the council will continue to support the TVSRP and will not be withdrawing council funding from it. BFC remains committed to the partnership and its activities to support road safety initiatives within the borough will remain unaffected.”

The road safety campaign charity Brake told the BBC’s Newsnight programme, which broadcast on Friday, that BFC had told it it would be withdrawing but the council has since said it is committed to the partnership. This year, BFC's financial commitment to the partnership is £125,000.

In Wokingham, Matt Davey, WBC’s head of technical services, said that the council is contributing £113,000 to the partnership this financial year but said: “We are currently considering some proposals for the future of the partnership beyond the end of this financial year and we are intending to stay in the partnership up until the end of this financial year.”

He said that the council has not decided whether it would keep the cameras if it withdrew next year.

In Bracknell there are 32 cameras and in Wokingham there are 54 but only one in 10 are in operation at a time. Money raised goes straight to central government.

Partnership spokesman Craig McAlpine said that its education programmes, including for young people and motorcyclists, also help cut casualty rates. He said: “There is a lot more involved than just speed cameras. It’s road safety as a whole that suffers if people decide to pull out of the partnership.”

Since the partnership was formed in 2000, the number of people killed or seriously injured on Bracknell Forest’s roads has fallen from 63 in 2000 to a low of 21 in 2008 and 23 in 2009. In Wokingham borough, the figure has reduced from 80 in 2000 to a low of 46 in 2008 and 49 in 2009.

Brake spokeswoman Ellen Booth welcomed BFC's commitment to the partnership. She added: “Speed cameras are an extremely effective way of reducing casualties and a very cost-effective way of doing that, which is why it seems so detrimental to remove them at this point in time. If you remove the cameras but don’t increase funding for other methods of enforcement, then we are left with a black hole in terms of speed enforcement.”

This article appeared in Villager 25 Aug 10

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