Council spending has cut death toll, but tell police where more must be done

As the local county councillor for the Middle Rasen area, I am told the situation is that a speed review of all A and B roads is taking place (this is a Government instruction, not a Lincolnshire Highways one), at the end of which, hopefully we will have some answers for the Road Safety Partnership to work on.

To be perfectly honest, I attend many Middle Rasen Parish Council meetings and, neither in public question time nor during the meeting, have I been made aware that there was a problem with speeding in the area of Willingham Road. Neither has any resident phoned or sent me a message by e-mail.

Unless that happens, neither myself nor, more importantly, the parish council, could be expected to act.

Mr Guy Grainger claims in his article this matter has been ongoing since 2002 and he may be correct. However, neither county highways officers, nor indeed senior Middle Rasen parish councillors remember this matter coming to their attention.

Had it done so I would have done all I could to act on it, as was done by putting in the traffic calming measures between Market Rasen and Gainsborough, the result of which has seen a reduction in fatalities and seriously injured of around 50 per cent, something I think the parishes along the way feel justly proud of due to their whole-hearted involvement in the process.

And over the last few years the parishes along the busy, once highly-dangerous, road have been targeted with a number of traffic-calming measures, with flashing speeding signs at Middle Rasen, Glentham and Corringham, and speed cameras at Hemswell Cliff and Bishop Bridge bends.

Also numerous dangerous bend signs have been erected in West Rasen.

The financial outlay has resulted in removing the pain, horror for families, and the loss of life of victims concerned. Every penny spent has been the best investment made in the time I have been their representative at County Hall.

In highlighting this achievement, I merely wish to point out that county highways and the Road Safety Partnership do make useful contributions to our lives.

They do their best with a huge reduction in their budget from central government at this time of austerity.

I cannot pre-judge what the findings will be of the speed survey on the Market/Middle Rasen road to Tealby will be. However, whatever speed limit will have to follow the national and bureaucratic process, which I regret as a local councillor who would like to have more say in where restrictions are placed.

However, my suggestion is that the parishioners come to the next meeting of Middle Rasen and ask the police to take action – which, of course, is what they are there to do.

LEWIS STRANGE

Lincolnshire County Councillor for the Ancholme Division