Little Burstead Village Gateway
Speeding through a village has been eased with the installation of simple traffic calming measures.
Residents in Little Burstead have been fighting to reduce the speed of motorists passing through their village.
The parish council made their own 30mph signs and also requested Essex County Council carry out traffic surveys in an effort to improve safety on the roads through the village.
The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex (PFCC) contributed £6,787.70 to Little Burstead Parish Council in the form of a crime and disorder reduction grant from the 2019-2020 Community Safety Development Fund to install village gateways.
The white five-bar gates announce the start of the village in Rectory Road, Tye Common Road and Laindon Common Road, showing the speed limit and urging drivers to “drive slowly through the village”. The project helps support the Commissioner’s objective to improve safety on our roads.
Christine Barlow, former clerk to the parish council, was instrumental in securing the funding for the project.
She said: “Residents campaigned for many years for action to be taken to reduce the speeding through the village.
“Being white, the gateways stand out on the village verges. It has been proven elsewhere that a visual construction can help alert drivers to reduce their speed. We had seen how effective they were in other parts of Essex, so it was felt they were a tried and tested solution.
“The PFCC funding was really important and the project could not have gone ahead without the funding and co-operation of the PFCC.”
Stephanie Robinson, parish council clerk, said: “The parish council are very pleased with the gateways. A speed survey conducted in November indicated that most drivers were complying with the speed limit, so it would seem they are helping to reduce speeding in the parish.”
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner said: “Improving road safety in Essex is a key priority in my Police and Crime plan. We achieve this by listening to communities and investing in initiatives to tackle these issues. Being able to fund these gateways, and so bring down speeding levels in Little Burstead is a great example of how partnership working can truly make a difference and keep our county safe and communities strong.”
