Cumbria ‘Safety’ Camera Partnership are planning to install fixed speed cameras for the first time in Cumbria this year. South Lakeland is likely to suffer first with the A590 being a prime target. Excessively high speeds quoted by the ‘safety’ camera partnership as justification for speed cameras have doubtless been measured on the long straight dual carriageway section of the A590 — where police patrol cars have been seen parked in a bizarre position on the central reservation, and police motorbikes lurk in the hedgerows — rather than in the villages where the speed cameras will be placed. Any speed cameras installed in Low Newton (photo) or High Newton will be just a sticking plaster on the gaping wound caused by the delay in building the
High Newton bypass.
If previous experience from elsewhere in the country is anything to go by, you can expect to see them targeting tourists entering and leaving the Lake District, especially at the weekend. Tourists have lots of money and because they live outside Cumbria, can't vote out of office the councillors who approved the scheme.
The 'Cumbria Road Casualty Reduction Partnership' has been formed to start reaping the rewards. They recently advertised for a public relations officer "to deliver a public relations and education strategy", and stated that "the successful candidate will need at least 3 years experience in the marketing, public relations or communications fields" — not a word about road safety. Why do they need a public relations officer if speed cameras are so marvellous?
Around 3,300 tickets are issued in Cumbria each year — a figure that they need to increase six fold in order to pay for the new cameras. It does of course go without saying that accidents won't reduce six fold.
Allerdale Borough Council (Cockermouth, Keswick, Maryport, Silloth & Workington area) have declared war on parking motorists. They have joined the government's latest driver rip-off scam —‘decriminalised parking’. This basically gives them carte blanche to throw reason and sense out of the window and persecute drivers to their heart's content. A staggering 22 extra staff have been taken on to deal with the extortion racket.
Don't believe us? -
Read their arrogant press release
In the most ridiculous parking scheme we've heard of, the council are demanding that parking disks are used by everyone on 'disc zone' streets — drivers have to set the time they arrive on a disk. Disks can be obtained from tourist information centres or local council offices. Information making this absurd waste of time clear to visitors is predictably inconspicuous. Wardens will give you 5 minutes to get a disk before they slap a fine on your car. The Council's parking manager Tony Smith admitted it takes 15 minutes to get a disk.
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