Villagers plea for a speed cut

A petition with 240 signatures is to be presented to Nottinghamshire County Council as part of a campaign to lower the speed limit through a village.

Residents of Cromwell want the limit on Main Street cut from 40mph to 30mph.

They say some vehicles go through at speeds of up to 70mph and the problem is at its worst when traffic is diverted through the village after accidents and when there are roadworks on the A1.

On Monday, residents handed their petition to county councillor Mr Bruce Laughton.

It was taken to all 85 houses in Cromwell and was also in the village shop, the Milestone Caravan Park and the Vina Cooke Museum of Dolls and Bygone Childhood.

One of the petition organisers, Mrs Sarah Clark (43) of Main Street, Cromwell, said a number of pets had been run over and, if something was not done, a child could be next.

Mr and Mrs Mervyn Elliott have run the village shop in Cromwell for 11 years and lived in the village for around 30.

Mr Elliott (62) said: “The road is a lot busier than it used to be.

“In this day and age 30mph isn’t asking too much. Major roads are 40mph and it does not make sense to have 40mph on this road.”

Mr Laughton said: “It seems ridiculous that they are sticking with the limit at 40mph here.

“We have got to start dealing with the problem.

“Sooner or later there is going to be some serious injuries and it is not good enough.”

Mr Laughton said that traffic increased through Cromwell when the A1 was closed and also that lorry drivers increasingly took shortcuts through the village to access Cromwell gravel pit.

He said instead of accessing the pit from the southbound exit of the A1, they were exiting the A1 from the northbound carriageway, travelling through the village and crossing the A1 to get to the pit.

Mr Laughton said the level of support for a speed reduction illustrated the depth of feeling on the issue.

He will present the villagers’ petition to Nottinghamshire County Council on July 17.

A public meeting will be held in Cromwell Village Hall on July 15 at 7pm to discuss the issue.

A spokesman for the county council said a village speed limit review had been ongoing since 2004 and about six villages a year had lower speed limits imposed.

Villages are prioritised on current speed limit and accident history.

The county council plans to deal first with villages where the national speed limit of 60mph is in place. That will take until the end of 2010.

The review will then consider villages with 50mph and 40mph limits.

“Requests for speed limits will be considered at the appropriate time in the review,” said the spokesman.

“Until that time, requests will be kept on file.”