Residents unconvinced new cameras will cut speeding

Residents say they are '"cynical" as to whether new automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras - which are returning to a town 15 years after they were scrapped - will stop drivers speeding.

Swindon Borough Council, the first in England to switch off all cameras claiming they did not prevent accidents, has reinstalled them on Okus Road, Croft Road, Akers Way, Grange Drive and Homington Avenue.

Resident Victoria Hope said they "probably won't be a deterrent" after a trial was halted in June when the council said no camera data had been collected and Wiltshire Police told the BBC no information had been shared.

The council said getting the cameras operating was an "important step forward".

The scheme, introduced earlier this year under Labour, had been piloted near schools and residential areas across the five locations in Swindon aimed to reduce dangerous driving and speeding.

The Conservative administration, who have now formerly reinstalled the cameras after pausing the trial in the summer, said the devices would collect information about vehicle speeds and traffic patterns, helping them better understand residents' concerns and identify where safety measures could make a difference.

Hope, who is a parent, said drivers knew the data was not being captured during the trial of the cameras and this left her "cynical" the official installation of the cameras would make a difference.

"It just seems a little bit lackadaisical...it's sort of haphazard," she said.

Hope added she believed the positioning of the camera on Croft Road was wrong.

"The speeding people tend to come past the camera and that's where they start to really let rip as they come down the hill. It isn't far enough down really."

Nick Gardiner, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "I understand the frustration that these cameras have taken time to get up and running...we needed to complete the policy work required for their use, and that has now been approved.

"This pilot will help us build a clearer picture of vehicle speeds and traffic patterns, giving us better evidence to guide decisions about road safety improvements.

"Getting the cameras operating is an important step forward.

"Our focus now is on using the information they provide to help make Swindon's roads safer."

Another local parent Katy Hadden said she was "relieved" to hear the cameras were "finally being switched on" after "such a long period of uncertainty", particularly as the afternoons are getting darker.

"Vehicle speeds up and down the hill remain excessive and unnerving," she said.

"It will be interesting to see whether signage is made more visible, given it has previously been obscured by overgrown trees, and how effectively the cameras are enforced, including whether penalties are issued," she added.

Additional reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service

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