Road closure costs add up

Private traffic management firms are being paid to oversee some Remembrance Sunday parades in the Advertiser area.

Branches of the Royal British Legion are helping to foot the bill to ensure the safety of those involved in the traditional marches, which take place a week on Sunday.

It comes after Nottinghamshire Police, which had previously provided assistance free of charge, confirmed that its officers would not routinely be available to manage the parade road closures.

In Balderton, the bill to hire a private company is £400.

Mr Alan Ellerby, of Balderton Royal British Legion, said the branch had a budget of only £1,000 for the year, and stressed the cost would not be met from Poppy Appeal donations.

“The police are not going to be controlling our parade. We have discussed it,” he said.

“They couldn’t guarantee the staff. If something happened and they all had to rush off we would be left high and dry.”

As a result, the parade, which includes a marching band, standard-bearers, veterans and children, will be forming and disbanding near the post office on Main Street, rather than crossing the busy London Road.

In Newark, plans are unchanged from last year with traffic orders approved for road closures that will be marshalled by staff from Newark Town Council. These include the blocking of some roads with vehicles.

There is expected to be a police presence because the parade involves serving members of the Armed Forces, although organiser Jayne Saunders said she did not yet know to what extent.

She said she worked with police over many months to ensure adequate security.

In Southwell, plans for Remem-brance Sunday remain unchanged because Retford-based TMS Traffic Management Services will oversee road closures.

More than 40 signs advertising road closures and alternative routes are needed.

The honorary secretary of the Southwell branch of the Royal British Legion, Mr Robert Beckett, said: “We have been fortunate until this year in that the police have looked after us.

“When you have got 1,000 people of all ages, able and disabled, it is a big responsibility.

“We knew at an early stage that the police could not provide the support they have before.

“The traffic management is a big part of our Remembrance Sunday, so we engaged traffic management company TMS who put a good plan together.”

In Ollerton, the parade will be shorter this year, with no march back to Ollerton Cemetery.

Mr Terry Bell, president of the Ollerton and District branch of the Royal British Legion, said: “The reason for these changes is that the police can no longer manage traffic for remembrance parades.”

A private company will oversee the shortened parade at a cost of about £1,000. This is being met jointly by county councillor Mr Mike Pringle, Ollerton and Boughton Town Council, and the local Royal British Legion.

“There is no resentment towards the police. It is a sign of the times. They can’t be spread all over the county,” Mr Bell said.

In Bingham, where about 400 people take part, arrangements are unchanged from last year, when a new system was introduced, whereby, with highways authority approval, volunteers enforce rolling road closures.

Remembrance Sunday organiser and Bingham branch standard-bearer Mr Mick Walker said that happened as they were quoted about £1,000 for traffic management ahead of last year’s event due to police unavailability.

TMS told the Advertiser it was providing traffic management for 25 Remembrance Sunday parades, nine in Nottinghamshire, including Southwell, Balderton and Ollerton.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: “Last year we were aware of over 40 parades across the county, of which many had little or no formal traffic management arrangements in place.

“This meant that a high number of officers were required to assist in facilitating those parades, which had an impact on our day-to-day operations and demands. Unfortunately, this is something we simply cannot sustain.”

The spokesman said they had been meeting interested parties, including the Royal British Legion and councils, about their parades for the last 18 months to offer appropriate advice and guidance.

The spokesman said it was outdated to suggest the police were the relevant body to participate in such events by stopping/directing traffic.

In Nottinghamshire, it was the city council and county councils that could permit road closures for planned events and approve traffic management measures. The responsibility for planning and providing the traffic management fell to the event organiser.

“Our powers to close roads are only to be used in emergency circumstances (e.g. a road traffic collision) and it would be inappropriate for us to use these powers for planned parades such as these,” the spokesman said.

“Working closely with the highways teams means that parade organisers can be correctly advised on how to apply for and obtain a legal road closure in the form of a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) and what the most appropriate traffic management infrastructure (signs/cones) would be.”

Via, the company that manages highways in Nottinghamshire on behalf of the county council, does not charge for the cost of making a TTRO application.