Hargrave - Suffolk
Measures to slow down speeding traffic
The Parish Council, on instruction from the villagers, have been trying, since 2014, to implement measures to reduce speeding traffic and the volume of non-agricultural heavy goods vehicles that use the village as a rat run. Below is our list of actions taken since we started our efforts.
| Date | Progress Notes | ||
| 05/03/23 | New SID machine commissioned and erected in Wickhambrook Road. | ||
| 25/02/23 |
New SID delivered to replace the old VAS machine. |
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| 07/01/23 |
VAS taken down from Wickhambrook Road and passed to Ousden. No data to download as machine faulty. |
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| 11/12/22 |
Old VAS collected from Depden and erected in Wickhambrook Road displaying speeds of vehicles coming into the village. |
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| 10/11/22 |
Quotes for replacement obtained and discussed at Parish Council Meeting. Decision to be made on the purchase a new machine (SID) to be taken at the next council meeting on 19th January 2023. |
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| 01/11/22 |
VAS machine taken back to Westcotec in Dereham for diagnosis. Found to be beyond economic repair so brought back and put back to use. Still working to display speeds, just not able to download the data. |
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| 07/10/22 |
After trying everything to connect to the machine I have had to refer the fault to Westcotec who supplied the machine. Hoping they can suggest a fix. Watch this space. |
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| 01/10/22 |
VAS machine taken down from Bury Road but attempts to download the data have failed and am unable to connect my PC with the machine. |
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| 25/09/22 |
VAS machine collected from Depden and erected in Bury Road reading incoming traffic. |
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| 22/07/22 |
VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road measuring Incoming traffic, the data analysed and added to this website. The machine will pass to Ousden tomorrow. During the period, 24 days, 10,946 vehicles were checked of which 24.7% of them were over 35mph. 1 vehicle was recorded at 65 - 70 mph, 1 vehicle was recorded at 60 - 65 mph, 12 vehicles were recorded at 55 - 60 mph, a further 63 vehicles were recorded at more that 50 mph. Obviously the presence of our ANPR camera for 10 days had no deterrent effect on the speeds through the village. |
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| 28/06/22 |
VAS machine collected from Depden and erected in Wickhambrook Road measuring incoming traffic. |
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| 24/05/22 |
Today an ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) speed camera has been installed in the village for the first time. It is expected to make regular random appearances during the trial period and hopefully beyond. This device not only records the date/time and speed, it also takes a photograph of every speeding vehicle, hence capturing the number plate This enables the incident to be followed up by the Suffolk Police and Suffolk Highways partnership. Particular attention will be given to repeat offenders during the period the camera is in use, even if the camera is in a different location within the village or indeed a different village. |
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| 29/04/22 |
VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road, the data analysed and published on this site. Tomorrow (30/04/22) the machine will pass to Ousden. During this period, 13 days, 5,863 vehicles were checked of which 25% were going faster than 35 mph. Three vehicles were clocked at between 60-65 mph, nine at 55-60 mph, thirty seven vehicles at 50-55 mph. The 85th percentile average speed was 38.2 mph. Still no help with enforcement from the Police or Highways. |
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| 16/04/22 |
VAS machine taken down from Bury Road measuring outgoing traffic, the data analysed and published on this site. During this period the 85th %ile average speed was recorded as 38.6 mph. Two vehicles were recorded at 60 - 65 mph. Eight vehicles were recorded at 55 - 60 mph. A further 49 vehicles were recorded at over 50 mph. 3004 vehicles were recorded at speeds greater than 35 mph. Machine is now in Wickhambrook Road measuring inbound traffic. |
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| 02/04/22 | VAS machine collected from Depden and erected in Bury Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 03/02/22 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road measuring incoming traffic, the data analysed and published on this website. Saturday (05/02/22) the machine will pass to Ousden. During this period, 26 days, 18,059 vehicles were checked of which 25% were going faster than 35 mph. One vehicle was clocked at between 70-75 mph, one at 65-70 mph, one vehicle at 60-65 mph and fourteen vehicles at 55-60 mph. The 85th percentile average speed was 37.8 mph. These results are typical of the high speeds we have been recording since 2014 with no sign of any help or enforcement by highways/police. | ||
| 08/01/22 | VAS machine collected from Depden and erected in Bury Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 12/11/21 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road measuring incoming traffic, the data analysed and published on this website. VAS machine goes to Ousden tomorrow. | ||
| 01/11/21 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road measuring outgoing traffic, the data analysed and published on this site. Machine is now in Wickhambrook Road measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 18/10/21 | VAS machine collected from Depden and put up in Bury Rd measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 20/08/21 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road measuring outgoing traffic, the data analysed and published on this website. Tomorrow (21/08/21) the machine will pass to Ousden. | ||
| 08/08/21 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road measuring outgoing traffic, the data analysed and published on this site. Machine is now in Wickhambrook Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 25/07/21 | VAS machine collected from Depden and erected in Bury Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 25/06/21 | A speed trap was in the village today, it will be returning at ad-hoc intervals. We have also expressed an interest in being on a trial for an ANPR speed camera that will record date, time, speed and registration of the vehicle concerned. If/when we are included in the trial, Police will follow up offenders and in particular, repeat offenders. | ||
| 28/05/21 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road measuring outgoing traffic, the data analysed and published on this site. Machine will go to Ousden tomorrow. | ||
| 18/05/21 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road, the data analysed and displayed on this website. Machine now in Bury Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 01/05/21 | VAS machine collected from Depden and put up in Wickhambrook Road measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 05/03/21 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road measuring incoming traffic, the data analysed and published on this site. Machine will go to Ousden tomorrow. | ||
| 21/02/21 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road, the data analysed and displayed on this website. Machine now in Bury Road measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 06/02/21 | VAS machine collected from Depden and put up in Wickhambrook Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 11/12/20 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road measuring incoming traffic, the data analysed and published on this site. Machine will go to Ousden tomorrow. | ||
| 28/11/20 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road, the data analysed and displayed on this website. Machine now in Bury Road measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 21/11/20 | Data downloaded, analysed and published. Machine put back up in Wickhambrook Road still measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 14/11/20 | VAS machine collected from Depden and put up in Wickhambrook Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 18/09/20 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road measuring outbound traffic, the data analysed and displayed on this site. It will be passed on to Ousden tomorrow. | ||
| 05/09/20 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road measuring outbound traffic, the data analysed and displayed on this site. It has now been put back in the same position. | ||
| 22/08/20 | VAS machine collected from Depden and erected in Bury Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 26/06/20 | Machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road measuring traffic leaving the village. The results have been analysed and added to this website. Tomorrow the VAS machine will be handed over to Ousden as they are now happy to collect it now that some of the rules of lockdown have been eased. | ||
| 12/06/20 | Machine taken down from Bury Road where it was measuring inbound traffic. The data has been analysed and added to this website. Tomorrow it will be put up in Bury Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 24/05/20 | Machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road where it was measuring inbound traffic. The data has been analysed and added to this website. Tomorrow it will be put up in Bury Road measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 09/05/20 | Machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road where it was measuring outbound traffic, the data analysed and published on this website. Tomorrow it will be put back in Wickhambrook Road measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 25/04/20 | Machine taken down from Bury Road measuring Outbound traffic, the data analysed and published on this site. It is now in Wickhambrook Road measuring Outbound traffic. | ||
| 10/04/20 | Machine taken down from Bury Road and the data analysed and published on this website. Due to the lockdown, the number of vehicles per day has dropped from 900 to 433 vpd. Machine will be put up again in Bury Road but measuring outbound traffic. We have the machine for longer this time as Ousden did not want to collect it due to COVID-19 so it will stay in the village until someone wants to collect it once again. | ||
| 28/03/20 | Machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road, the data analysed and published on this website. It will be put up in Bury Road tomorrow. | ||
| 09/03/20 | VAS machine collected from Depden and put up in Wickhambrook Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 10/01/20 | Machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road, the data analysed and added to this website. The machine will go to Ousden tomorrow. | ||
| 30/12/19 | VAS machine erected in Wickhambrook Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 29/12/19 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road, the data analysed and added to this website. | ||
| 15/12/19 | VAS machine collected from Depden and put up in Bury Road measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 25/11/19 | Had a meeting with SCC Highways to discuss changing the 40 mpg speed limit through Birds end to 30 mph and extending this right through the wash and linking with the existing 30 mph near The Old Bull. There was some sympathy for this suggestion however this ultimately comes down to cost. It was likely to cost £9k - £10k to implement this, mainly due to legal costs. We await some alternatives and costings which were promised by the end of December. We should then be able to discuss this further at the January meeting of the Parish Council. | ||
| 18/10/19 | Machine taken down from Bury Road, the data analysed and added to this website. The machine will go to Ousden tomorrow. | ||
| 11/10/19 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road, the data analysed and displayed on this website. VAS machine now put up in Bury Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 21/09/19 | VAS machine collected from Depden and erected in Wickhambrook Road measuring inboud traffic. | ||
| 01/08/19 | While errecting Neighbourhood Watch signs the opportunity was taken to clean all speed limit signs and most other signs in the village. This included the removal of foliage obscuring the signs. Hopefully "I didn't see the signs" will be an excuse of the past. | ||
| 26/07/19 | Machine taken down from Bury Road, the data analysed and added to this website. The machine will go to Ousden tomorrow. | ||
| 15/07/19 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road, the data analysed and displayed on this website. VAS machine now put up in Bury Road measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 29/06/19 | VAS machine collected from Depden and put up in Wickhambrook Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 04/05/19 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road and the data analysed and displayed on this website. VAS machine now passed on to Ousden. | ||
| 20/04/19 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road, the data analysed and displayed on this website. VAS machine now put up in Bury Road measuring inbound traffic. Recent communication from the new Community Engagement Officer confirms that Hargrave is still on the list for periodic visits from the Speed Camera Van. We should expect one visit per 6 week period. | ||
| 06/04/19 | VAS machine collected from Depden and put up in Wickhambrook Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 30/01/19 | VAS machine taken down, data analysed and published on this website. VAS machine now passed onto Ousden early due to holiday committments. | ||
| 24/01/19 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road measuring outbound traffic, the data analysed and published on this website. Machine them put back in Wickhambrook Road measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 12/01/19 | VAS machne collected from Depden and erected in Wickhambrook Road measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 16/11/18 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road, the data analysed and published on this website. Machine will be passed onto Ousden tomorrow. | ||
| 07/11/18 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road measuring inbound traffic and the data analysed and published on this website. Now setup to measure Bury Road outbound traffic. | ||
| 21/10/18 | VAS machine collected from Depden and put up in Bury Rd measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 24/08/18 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook road, the data analysed and the analysis published on this website. The VAS machine will be passed onto Ousden tomorrow. | ||
| 11/08/18 | Data downloaded, analysed and results added to this website. VAS machine turned round now checking Wickhambrook Road Outbound Traffic. | ||
| 30/07/18 | VAS machine collected from Depden and put up in Wickhambrook Road measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 02/06/18 | VAS machine taken down from Ousden Road, the data analysed and published. The machine has now be passed to Ousden. | ||
| 25/05/18 | VAS taken down from Wickhambrook Road, data analysed and added to this website. Machine now erected in Ousden Road for a trial period following an action taken from the Annual Parish Meeting. | ||
| 12/05/18 | VAS taken down from Bury Road, data analysed and machive put up in Wickhambrook Road measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 05/05/18 | VAS machine collected from Depden and errected in Bury Road checking inbound traffic. | ||
| 09/03/18 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road, the data downloaded and analysed and stats added to this website. The machine will be passed over to Ousden tomorrow. | ||
| 24/02/18 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road, data downloaded and analysed. Machine now in Wickhambrook Road checking outbound traffic. | ||
| 10/02/18 | VAS machine collected from Depden and put up in Bury Road (North) checking outbound traffic. | ||
| 15/12/17 | VAS Machine taken down from Bury Road, data downloaded and analysed. Machine passed on to Ousden. | ||
| 03/12/17 | VAS machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road, the data downloaded and analysed and published on this website. It has now been errected in Bury Road (North) checking inbound traffic. | ||
| 18/11/17 | VAS Camera collected from Depden and put up in Wickhambrook Road (South) checking outbound traffic. | ||
| 17/11/17 | Speedcam Van in the Village, just down from the Village Hall around the midle of the day today checking outbound traffic. | ||
| 22/09/17 | VAS machine has been removed from Wickhambrook Road, the data has been downloaded and analysed and published on this website. The machine has now gone to Ousden so we won't have access to it for the next 8 weeks. | ||
| 15/09/17 | VAS machine taken down from Bury Road, the data analysed and added to the website. The data has been forwarded to the Police with a request for further speed checks in the Village. The VAS machine is now in Wickhambrook Road (South) measuring inbound traffic. | ||
| 27/08/17 | VAS machine back now and fitted on the post in Bury Rd (North) measuring outbound traffic. | ||
| 01/07/17 | VAS machine has been passed onto Ousden. | ||
| 30/06/17 | Machine taken down from Church Lane and the data analysed. | ||
| 16/06/17 | VAS machine has now been moved to Church Lane to gather data to understand traffic issues in Church Lane. The data from Wickhambrook Road has been analysed and added to this site. | ||
| 15/06/17 | Police car sited in Wickhambrook Road believed to be carrying out speed checks. | ||
| 03/06/17 | VAS machine back with us again and has been sited in Wickhambrook Road measuring traffic coming into the village. | ||
| 08/04/17 | Machine taken down from Bury road and passed onto Ousden. Data analysed and this website updated. | ||
| 27/03/17 | Machine taken down from Wickhambrook Road (Hargrave South Outbound) and moved to Bury Road. (Hargrave North Inbound) The results have been analysed and forwarded to our local Police Officers. They are also shown on this website as usual. | ||
| 13/03/17 | VAS machine now back in the village and has been erected at Hargrave South post checking traffic heading out of the village. We now have more interest from our local Police Officers who want to be kept up to date with the latest data so they can target the times and locations when most speeding takes place. | ||
| 13/01/17 | VAS machine taken down and the results analysed. The VAS machine now moves onto Ousden and we will not get it back for 8 weeks. The results have been published on this website and don't show any real signs of improvement. However the maximum recorded speeds at 65 - 70 mph is slightly lower than previous periods but we still have a long way to go to get speeds to an acceptable level. | ||
| 29/12/16 | VAS Speed machine has been moved to Bury Road, again checking traffic leaving the village. The data from Wickhambrook Road has been downloaded, analysed and the results have been published on this website. See links to the left for more detail. |
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| 18/12/16 | VAS Speed machine back in Hargrave and was erected in Wickhambrook Road checking traffic leaving the village. (Outbound Traffic) |
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| 01/10/16 | The Police have deployed their own measuring equipment in the village and have verified our data so Hargrave is on the list for a visit(s) from the Speed Cam Van. A competition was held for the children to design a suitable SLOW DOWN poster and this was won by Charlie Ambridge. 2nd prize went to Joshua Gilbert and 3rd prize to Zack Gilbert. All of the entries were very good so each entrant received a consolation prize. The signs have now been laminated and are being displayed around the village. Here are the winning entries:- |
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1st prize goes to Charlie Ambridge |
2nd prize goes to Joshua Gilbert |
3rd prize goes to Zack Gilbert |
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| 01/09/16 | Pressing the Police to get the Speed Cam Van to visit Hargrave having submitted considerable data. It now appears that the Police will need to verify the data by deploying their own measuring equipment before they will send out the Speed Cam Van. |
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| 19/05/16 | Two Speed Cam vans have been purchased and will be deployed across Suffolk and Norfolk according to local data provided to them from VAS machines. More villages are keen to get in on the VAS initiative and it now seems that 4 machines will be shared between 12 villages. |
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| 03/03/16 | Moving ahead with the childrens competition to design a roadsign. Quotes obtained for producing a laminated A3 and A2 size notice. |
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| 05/11/15 | Data being sent to local Police regularly. A suggestion that we get the children of the village to design a sign to persuade drivers to slow down was agreed. This would take thr form of a competition and Clive Pollington has agreed to fund this. |
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| 03/09/15 | Analysis of the data has proved surprising and has shown that the extreme high speeds are happening during peak times like 75mph recorded between 5 and 6 pm on a Friday. All data to be forwarded to the local Police on a regular basis to enable them to target offenders. Some brightly coloured signs are being considered to place along the roadside, again to remind drivers that they are in a 30 mph limit. |
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| 02/07/15 | Data from the 2 VAS machines is being collated and is providing useful information about the speed of traffic through the village. The ultimate obective being to provide data to the Police so that they can target their visits to the village with their speed gun at the times when most speeding is evident. |
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| 21/05/15 | Report to the Annual Parish Meeting indicated that the fixing of 30 mph stickers to the black / grey bins appears to be having an effect. It was also reported that a VAS machine was currently in place on both of the new posts. The first weeks results show that around 50% of the 500+ vehicles per day that pass through the village are doing speeds in excess of 35 mph and would attract a speeding ticket if a Police speed trap was in attendance. |
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| 14/05/15 | Events have overtaken recent plans and 2 VAS machines have been delivered to Hargrave who now have the posts erected and are ready to go. Mary Evans has arranged a meeting in Hargrave Village Hall on 28th May 15 for the 3 villages concerned. (Cowlinge, Hargrave and Gt Bradley) to arrange how these 2 machines should be shared when the other villages get their posts erected. |
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| 05/03/15 | The posts for the VAS machine have been ordered and should be erected on 10/04/2015. A meeting was held between Hargrave, Cowlinge and Gt Bradley to work out a plan for deploying the VAS machine. These villages being the only ones that are close to getting the posts erected. Mary Evans has already purchased one VAS machine and a plan is required for sharing this machine. |
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| 15/01/15 | Mary Evans has ordered and paid for 2 Speed Machine signs. The intention is to put these signs up when the VAS machine is not in our village. A meeting is to be arranged between Hargrave, Ousden, Depden and Wickhambrook to confirm the plans for the sharing of the VAS machine. Mary Evans suggested we combine this meeting with a chance to meet the manufacturers of the VAS machine to fully understand how they should be deployed and how the data can be extracted. |
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| 06/11/14 | Correspondance still going back and forth with Highways trying to get the VAS project moved on. There are 2 proposed sites to locate the VAS signs: Opposite the Old Grove, Wickhambrook Road and near to Stonesthrow on Bury Road. It has now been agreed to purchase 2 posts from Highways at an approximate price of £150 which will be funded by the Parish Council. Negotiations are underway with Ousden and Wickhambrook with a view to sharing one VAS machine and splitting the costs. It is now agreed to move forward with the wheelie bin stickers. A4 size stickers (100) will be purchased will have a white background and the 30 mph roundel. These stickers will be provided to all residents along Bury Road and Wickhambrook Road where they will be seen by the majority of traffic. They should be stuck to the Black / Grey bins only so that every 2 weeks there will be a massive reminder to all drivers that they are in a 30 mph zone. We also requested the purchase of 2 Speed Machine signs to be used on the posts when the VAS is not present. |
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| 04/09/14 | No news from Highways since their visit to the Village in July. The Officer responsible, Mr Anthony Smith, had not responded in any way until Mary Evans got involved and then a response was received. The VAS assessment has still not been done so we cannot process the request for the posts to be errected to mount the VAS signs on. Another idea put forward was to put up our own signs to try to reduce the speed of traffic through the village. It was also discussed that we should perhaps put stickers on our black wheelie bins to be a further reminder for drivers to slow down. |
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