PACT meeting Thursday night

What a great turnout for the PACT meeting last night and congratulations to all the PACT panel for generating the clear enthusiasm from residents for the process. Barry and his team have worked very hard to get to this position and to get nearly seventy residents to meet and discuss their wellbeing problems is a real success. I was concerned however that the results that we have seen as a result of introducing the traffic calming system were not celebrated more and that some residents thought that the whole project was a waste of time and money. They were not prepared to accept the data which proves that the intervention has reduced average speeds by up to 17% in Stanpit and have virtually eliminated the excessive speeds above 30 and 40 mph. Further amendments will mean that we will get even more reduction and the installation of the Rosie Havers crossing at Purewell will have an effect also. So all in all we have made a real difference to speeds along this road and once the whole system is in place we will see a calmer and safer road commensurate with the village environ Stanpit and Purewell represents.In respect of traffic volume, here we have a much more difficult problem and I am increasingly concerned that volumes appear to excessively high. This is going to be subject to review once the system is completed and we can look at the effects of holiday traffic and other issues. I did think of trying the 'King Knute' concept and sitting in the middle of the road but was advised against and reminded that whether I like it or not roads are in fact in common ownership and therefore are freely accessible to all. There is little therefore that I can do to control volumes of traffic in a road designated as a 'local distributor road'.