Huw clocks speeding vehicles in Etchingham village
Bexhill and Battle MP, Huw Merriman, recently joined the Community Speedwatch group in Etchingham for one of their regular sessions.
The Community Speedwatch programme has been running in Etchingham since January 2014. It was set up by local volunteers in response to concerns about speeding and road safety in the village.
Since then, local volunteers have run 1115 sessions and have reported over 10,000 speeding vehicles to Sussex Police’s Operation Crackdown. The fastest car clocked driving though the village’s 30mph zone was doing 72mph.
Local Speedwatch Co-ordinator, and parish councillor, Colin Boylett, runs several sessions with volunteers each week from different positions in the village. He told Huw that Speedwatch had been very successful in reducing speeds in Etchingham as local drivers are now more cautious of monitoring their speed.
Huw said “The Etchingham Community Speedwatch Group is a great example of what can be achieved when volunteers from the local community work together on a common cause. Like many villages, Etchingham has a main A road running through it. This presents safety issues for the local school, pre-schools and residents going about their daily lives. Drivers reported to Operation Crackdown by the Speedwatch receive a letter from Sussex Police and persistent offenders are visited at their homes by a police officer. This has been very effective across Sussex and I would urge other communities who are affected by speeding cars to consider introducing Speedwatch to their area.”
Colin said “I am very grateful for the dedication and time put in by the team of volunteers who turn out in all weathers. We always need new volunteers to expand the team, as do other villages in the Rother area, the first step is to sign up as a volunteer on the Community Speedwatch online platform www.communityspeedwatch.co.uk .”