Pinchbeck councillors want to change 'culture of speeding' in the village

A village wants to change its ‘culture of speeding’ - after cars were clocked racing at more than twice the legal speed limit.

Using data collected from speeding signs, Pinchbeck Parish Council has revealed damning statistics about how fast vehicles have been driving along Northgate.

The highest speed clocked along the narrow, winding country lane was 92mph in the 40mph zone.

On another occasion, two cars were spotted racing along the road, their speeds reading as 83mph.

While drivers endanger themselves by going too fast, councillors also fear for the safety of others who use the road.

“People walk their dogs, push pushchairs and take their horses along there, we can’t have this speeding,” said Coun Ann Savage at last Monday night’s parish council meeting.

Discussing the issue further afterwards, Coun Savage made a plea to residents thinking of driving to excessive speeds.

She added: “We need to change this culture (of speeding).

“It includes people from the village doing this.

“This is their community and their children and parents who use this road.”

Coun Terry Moore reported on a meeting he, Coun Savage and chairman Coun James Avery held with Lincolnshire County Council to discuss a dossier of traffic data that had been collected.

Having purchased speeding signs - which notify drivers of their speeds and clock how fast vehicles travel - and issued a survey to residents, the extent of problems faced were delivered to the highways authority.

“We were asking ‘what can we do to make Pinchbeck a safer place for pedestrians and cyclists now we’ve got a problem with speeding?’,” Coun Moore explained, describing the meeting as ‘fruitful’.

“We have purchased several speeding signs and we’d like to purchase some more.

“We discussed possible street furniture - gates to slow vehicles down, average speed cameras, fixed speed cameras.

“They looked at the data and it’s quite frightening what’s happened on Northgate.

“We’ve been told about people racing down there at 83mph.”

Another issue facing the parish council was the number of HGVs which travel along the stretch of road from Northgate to Knight Street.

“Over one hour there was an average of one HGV every two minutes - and that shows the problem we really have,” Coun Savage continued.

The county council were asked whether a weight limit could be put on Knight Street to divert larger vehicles, but that could not happen until the under-construction relief road is completed.

“We asked about looking at deregulating Knight Street from a B-road, but they can’t put a weight restriction on a B-road,” Coun Moore added.

Coun Avery praised the council’s proactive stance to create the dossier of traffic data.

He said: “It’s pleasing to see this level of information.

“The council has invested its own money into signs and cameras and that shows we’re not just a quango coming up with disjointed arguments.

“It was very well put together.”

Pinchbeck councillors also heard that police have been leafletting cars along the busy Knight Street, emphasising the importance of safe parking to drivers.