Speeders watch out

Making the roads safer in Oldham is one of the highest priorities for people who live in Oldham and Saddleworth says Liberal Democrat Councillor for Grotton, Springhead and Lees, Mark Kenyon. He has campaigned over the last three years to introduce a community speedwatch scheme in the borough and has just got the go-ahead that the scheme will finally be rolled out in Oldham by Greater Manchester Police with Saddleworth being top of the list.

The scheme will be run by the Police but operated by community volunteers. The aim is to make motorists who speed through neighbourhoods aware of the impact of their actions on local people, or the danger they pose to other road users and pedestrians. A team of local residents who are willing to volunteer a small amount of time each week are trained and issued with speed detection equipment to monitor speeds.

Mark Kenyon described the scheme: “Vehicles that speed will be sent a warning letter from GMP along with advice to help change their driving behaviour.”

He continued: “Speeding on our residential streets is the number one issue people talk to us about. With good reason – some of the speeds that all of us have witnessed on the streets that we all live on are terrifying.  When I read about Community Speedwatch, I knew we had to have it in Saddleworth and Lees. There’s a bigger debate about police funding, road infrastructure and speeding across Greater Manchester, but this is something practical we can do now to address peoples’ concerns now.”

People who would like to help with the scheme can find out more by emailing mark.kenyon@oldham.gov.uk