At the last Coltishall
Parish Council meeting the issue of speeding through
the village was raised. It would seem that the 30mph
speed restriction is seen by many as a minimum and not
a maximum. Our villages have narrow roads with bends
and were never formed for, and indeed do not suit, speeding
motor vehicles. Our pavements are in many instances
very narrow and I have personally seen vehicles travelling
too fast being confronted by vehicles doing a similar
speed coming the other way, resorting to mounting the
pavement with their vehicles to avoid the oncoming traffic.
Something needs to be done.
The response from the 'powers that
be' in 'traffic management' consists of no action
unless there has been at least an accident involving
serious injury or worse.
As put by our Coltishall Parish
Council Chairman "we must be proactive not reactive".
Do we really want to wait until
somebody gets seriously hurt or worse before action
is taken?
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Our villages are for the people
that live in them or visit them and our village roads
and the restrictions thereto should be designed with
that in mind and not dictated by the ease, and speed,
with which motorists can drive through our villages.
I can recall reading about a village
with similar speed problems that resorted to resurfacing
it's village roads with a brown tarmac with no white
central line i.e. it re-created the original 'lane'.
The result was an immediate drop in traffic speed,
for although the road was no narrower, it was perceived
by the motorist to be so. Unfortunately the 'powers
that be' objected to the surfacing and lack of lines
and it had to be reinstated with a resultant increase
in speed through the village.
What can the individual do?
Coltishall Parish Council have formed
a sub-committee to consider such problems. I would
suggest that you at least write with your views to
the Clerk to the Parish Council. Any such letters
that are passed to a Marlpit Editor will also be considered
for inclusion in the Marlpit.
On a lighter note the Editors of
the Marlpit would like to thank all the people who
have assisted with the production and distribution
of the magazine throughout this year and to wish them
and all the readers a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous
New Year and remember, the best gift you can give
somebody for Christmas is your time.
. editorial
