Campaign fails to get missing speed camera back on school route
A council has flatly refused to re-instate a missing speed camera - despite worried residents demanding its return.
A petition has called for the reinstatement of the camera on the A229 Loose Road in Maidstone,[1] just above the sharp junction with Sheals Crescent and just below the rear entrance to South Borough School.
The camera was installed in 1996 and designed to catch motorists exceeding the 30mph limit as they travelled north towards the town centre.
It followed a history of accidents on the road where people were injured.
In 2016 Kent County Council (KCC) had a programme of replacing all its analogue wet-film speed cameras across Maidstone with new digital technology - but not this one.
Tara O’Shea, KCC’s safer speeds and enforcement team leader, said technical difficulties had made it impossible to replace this particular camera.
Instead, it was left in place for a further five years, not working, but where its presence at least continued to act as a deterrent to those drivers not in the know.
In October 2021, the camera was covered over and then in July 2022, it was removed altogether due, Ms O’Shea said, to “the structural integrity of the housing being compromised due to its age, mechanical failure and erosion.”
But residents said the need for the camera was as great as ever.
The location is near several schools and parents and children often try to cross the A229 at this point to reach South Borough Primary School in one direction, while older pupils cross in the other direction on their way to Maidstone Grammar School.
The petition was presented to KCC on behalf of the residents by the local ward councillor Dinesh Khadka (Lib Dem) back in February.
Five months later, at last week’s meeting of the Joint Transportation Board, KCC gave its answer - the camera would not be returned.
Ms O’Shea said there was little justification for it. Speed surveys carried out when the camera was still in place, when it was covered over, and after it had been removed, showed the average speed starting at 26.2mph, rising to 29.15mph and then to 30.18mph.
She described the increase as “marginal,” but Cllr Ian Chittenden (Lib Dem) said: “If the average speed is 30mph, doesn’t that imply that half the drivers are breaking the speed limit - just 50m from a sharp bend?”
Councillors suggested that KCC had removed the cameras as a money-saving exercise, but Ms O’Shea, who is also the project manager for the Kent and Medway Safety Partnership, strongly denied that.
She insisted that changes to the design footprint of the new-style camera housing and the required lining, meant that the camera could not be replaced.
Alternative locations in the near vicinity had been sought, she said, but could not be found.
Cllr Paul Cooper (Con), who confessed that 15 years ago he had received three points on his licence because of the camera, said: “I am not a big fan of speed cameras, but clearly there was a reason why the camera was put here - close to a school - in the first place.”
Cllr Brian Clark (Lib Dem) suggested that if the new digital cameras couldn’t work where the old analogue camera could “we’ve chosen a type of camera that is not fit for purpose”.
Cllr Peter Coulling agreed: “It’s almost unbelievable that an upgrade in technology has resulted in a retrograde step in performance.”
Councillors were unhappy at KCC’s decision that no action is to be taken and put forward alternatives.
Cllr Springett (Con) suggested installing average speed cameras at either end of the section of road while Cllr Tom Cannon (Con) said at least a flashing “school” sign be installed.
Cllr Clark suggested a speed indicator device (SID) to draw drivers’ attention to their speed.
Maidstone council leader Cllr Stuart Jeffery (Green) summed up the feeling of the meeting, saying: “KCC needs to do something!”
The board told Ms O’Shea to think again and come up with alternative suggestions for the next meeting in three months’ time.
After the meeting, Cllr Khadka, who is not a member of the transportation board, said: “There was a hard-fought campaign by residents to gain this camera in the first place and again more recently in our request for reinstatement.
“We have to do whatever is necessary to get that replacement.”
Marion Norris who lives on Loose Road and was one of the 123 people who signed the petition, with her husband Kevin, described KCC’s decision as “very upsetting”.
She said: “These KCC officers need to come and live on this road and experience the speed for themselves.”
However, she was pleased councillors were considering other methods and she described Cllr Springett’s suggestion of average speed cameras as “a stroke of genius”.
She said: “To be honest, the problem is not just at the section above Sheals Crescent, but on a much larger expanse.
“Average speed cameras across the whole road would be ideal.”
References
- ^ Maidstone, (www.kentonline.co.uk)