Tackling speeding through Oare - can you help?
By Dee Nix, chair Wilcot, Huish & Oare Parish Council and Oare Community Speed Watch leader
Oare is now recognised by the police as one of the worst villages in Wiltshire for speeding.
Since we have very little pavement most of us are forced to walk much of the length of the village on the road. Sadly, this makes the journey to and from the village hall, church, school and bus stop, as well as each other’s houses, much more dangerous than it need be - and means our community is fragmented.
We have periodic visits from the Special Constabulary Roads Policing Unit who have sophisticated cameras and enforcement powers to fine speeders, summons them to Court or send them on a Driver Awareness course. In addition, your Parish Council has been working with Wiltshire Highways on possible new ways of tackling speeding in our village. But we can only make the case for change if we have the necessary supporting data.
And that’s where Oare Community Speed Watch plays a vital role.
What is Speed Watch?
Oare Community Speed Watch (CSW), run by volunteers, supports these officers from the Roads Policing Unit. Our primary role is to make drivers aware of the speed limit in the village by our presence and to report those who do speed to the Wiltshire Community Speed Watch team. They in turn write letters to all those reported as speeding, reminding them of why speeding is not acceptable. Repeat offenders can be required to attend a Community Speed Awareness Course.
Oare CSW exists because we have a 30mph speed limit. We report anyone who is doing 36 miles per hour or greater - and we have recorded some doing as much as 60 miles an hour!
Volunteers needed
Oare CSW did originally have quite a few volunteers but as the years have passed our numbers have dwindled - and we need more people to keep Oare CSW viable.
So if you have serious concerns about speeding in Oare then by joining Speed Watch you are helping your community by educating drivers and reduce speeding instances – and it’s just a few hours a month of your time.
What’s involved?
All volunteers are trained to operate at risk-assessed sites and must comply with CSW procedures. The training is in two parts:
- an online course with questions to be completed
- a training session at a risk-assessed site in how to use the camera, how to record speeders and your safety
As team leader, I look after the speed camera, co-ordinate sessions and report speeders using a simple spreadsheet system. All our sessions are run during daylight hours and in good visibility. We have high-visibility jackets and lanyards to identify ourselves, provided by CSW.
Our sessions are typically one hour long, but they can be shorter. We always work in a team of at least two and sometimes three. We operate on any day of the week, up to 8pm in the summer and to about 4pm in the winter - so if you can only do weekends in the winter, you could still make some sessions. All sessions are run at times convenient to our volunteers!
Find out more
To get involved, please contact me at dee.nix@wilcotandhuish-pc.gov.uk
Alternatively you can apply to
join Oare Community Speed Watch through the Expression of Interest Form here.
