A632 Update / Meeting with Police & Crime Commissioner

Just before the Parish Council meeting on 15 April, we were joined by Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) along with Chief Inspector Greg Hunt, Steve Hughes and Tim Parkin of Derbyshire Police. Derbyshire County Councillor, Barry Lewis also attended the meeting.

The main focus of the meeting was the A632. We've rehearsed the issues many times before at other meetings and as the PCC had been fully briefed we simply set the scene with a 5 minutes overview. In this conversation, we wanted to focus on where we were with current action plans and what scope there was to increase momentum.

Average speed cameras

Looking at the long term, there was consensus that we must continue to press for speed cameras. Derbyshire County Council (DCC) have a fully prepared business case backed up with a detailed rationale and statistics. However, to get an traction, we need engagement with the Government's Safer Roads Scheme. The PCC offered her support to DCC to try and get our case in front of the Safer Roads Scheme and this will be progressed as one of the actions from the meeting.

Whilst this commitment was noted, it was recognized by those present that:

- Using the Via Gelia scheme for comparison, we should bear in mind a likely timescale of 3 years+ and a cost running into £millions

- Driver error / extreme speeds on the A632 has been a major cause of accidents and the installation of average speed cameras won't overcome such behaviour.

Regarding the latter point, there are cameras in place at Span Car as part of a pilot called Vision Track which were triggered by a recent accident which demonstrated the cause was driver error. This is an important point when contemplating expensive infrastructure improvements like roundabouts and traffic lights.

Re-deployable speed cameras

The Viacam Pilot study currently has two speed cameras deployed in Derby City, part of a 12 months trial which began in January this year. Speed and number plates are recorded by the system and a review assessing the success of the scheme will take place next January. Meanwhile, the PCC has noted our interest in potential deployment on the A632.

As an aside, it had been thought power supply requirements might prevent deployment but we were advised that battery/solar units are now available.

This is being viewed as a medium term solution

ANPR cameras.

We were disappointed not to have been selected for a pilot study last year, especially having learned that such cameras can be programmed to record speeds against registration numbers. We lodged an appeal against our exclusion but this was not accepted. More to the point, we were told that Derbyshire does not have an ANPR provider that could provide the dual functionality we would be looking for.

Speed checks by the Police

Occasional patrols by the police, to catch speeding motorists will continue but of course they do have other commitments across the county. Another option tabled at the meeting is the creation of hard standing areas on the A632 which would enable the police to (safely) position an officer in a van who could then do some continuous monitoring of traffic. DCC offered to work with the police on the detail and funding.

In summary

Overall, those attending the meeting felt it had been positive and constructive with agreement on a range of short, medium and long term objectives. The Parish Council will continue lobbying to ensure momentum is not lost.