Councillor calls for 'proper' traffic calming measures to address speeding issues in Northumberland coastal village

Cllr Andrew Bardgett raised the issue at a meeting of Bamburgh Parish Council during a discussion on proposed traffic calming measures.

He revealed he had spoken with a police officer who was operating a hand-held speed gun at The Links car park recently.

He said: "It’s ironic really that the police officer had to set up to be visible so parked her car at 90 degrees to the road and, of course, it stood out a mile and she said she could tell people were braking as soon as they saw they car.

"Of course, that only works when the car is there.

"We have seen some horrendous speeding the last few weeks. There have been people doing 60-70mph on the front there.

"I really do hope the highways people have come up with some proper calming measures and it’s not just some token gesture. I’ll be very disappointed if it is.”

Traffic calming proposals drawn up by Northumberland County Council and currently being examined by the road safety audit department. No details of the measures have been revealed yet.

"As soon as it passes the road safety audit, it will be shared,” said Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson, local ward councillor.

Cllr Bardgett said: “It seems a pity that the planners devise a scheme, pass it on to the safety people and then the AONB and finally we get to see it. It’s a shame there isn’t a consultation so we can see what is being proposed.

"But hopefully something will get done and the rumble strips will get taken out. It’s a couple of years since we were told they would be taken out. They are a mess with shards of broken kerbs all over the place.”

The county council has allocated £30,000 for the traffic calming measures in its Local Transport Plan (LTP) for 2021/22.

Drivers were clocked speeding at over 50mph through the village’s 30mph zone when a survey was carried out in summer 2019.

Speeds at Links Road South (Armstrong Cottages) measured 36.9mph northbound and 39.3mph southbound.

Traffic was also found to be speeding on Radcliffe Road and Links Road (Plantation).

Vehicles were also recorded travelling at speeds of 50.5mph and 49.7mph on Links Road South and Radcliffe Road.

The dramatic events of the pandemic are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on your support through buying our newspaper. If you can, please pick up a copy of the Northumberland Gazette when you are at the shops. Thank you.