South June 2014

News

downsmail.co.uk

Speedwatch traps more drivers Improving road safety in village

A REVISION to rules governing neighbourhood Speedwatch schemes means more motorists are being trapped for falling foul of the law.

Information from parish schemes

has been collated – and drivers caught in the fast lane in one or more villages can now find them- selves on the police “radar”. East Farleigh has had a marked success in pulling up drivers racing through the village, with 19 warn- ing letters sent to motorists as a re- sult of just one day’s Speedwatch in March. Peter Beasley told the annual

parish meeting that, of the 19 let- ters, two were for a second detec- tion and 17 were for excessive speed. Warning letters are only sent out

to drivers found to be driving at more than 50% above the desig- nated limit, whichwould be 45mph in a 30mph zone. Mr Beasley said: “This is signifi-

cantly more than a year ago, when we would have had to catch some- one two or three times in the same parish before they got a warning letter. “It would have taken us a whole

year to achieve this kind of result. “Now, someone caught speeding

in East Farleigh then again in, say, Yalding, could find they are in re- ceipt of such a letter from the po- lice.” Mr Beasley said Dean Street was

a notorious hot spot for speeding motorists – and, surprisingly, not at the expected peak times. He said: “We have found that drivers speed up after 9am and 6pm – and on Sundays.” Hewarned that in future, Speed-

watch volunteers would be on the lookout for drivers who flouted the law at all times of the day, as well as evenings andweekends.

TRAFFIC-calming measures could soon be introduced to East Farleigh. The parish council is looking atways to reduce traffic speeds, including vil-

lage centre schemes, which county Cllr Paulina Stockell has offered to fund. She has already paid for white lines along Lower Road from her member budget and has offered to finance a future scheme. White lines at the end of Forge Lane, where it joins Dean Street, have been

extended half a metre into the junction. Unfortunately, they should have been extended by ametre and the council iswaiting for this to be rectified. In the village plan, residents wanted to see improved safety on East Far-

leigh Bridge and Cllr Darren Riches has been working on a safety scheme. The parish council is expected to authorise an independent traffic survey to look at possible measures which could be implemented.

Scout Ruby raising funds for trip to Japan

ATEENAGEscout fromYalding is preparing for a two-week jaunt to Japan. Ruby Haigh, from Vicarage

Road, a member of the Yalding Beult Scout Troop, is one of 108 young people from Kent and East Sussex joining the UK contingent of Scouts at the 2015World Scout Jamboree in Yamaguchi City. World Scout Jamborees take

place once every four years. More than 40,000 young people are ex- pected at the camp site at Kirara- hama next summer.

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Ruby (13), a pupil at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls, has to raise £2,500 to help finance the trip. So far, she has

been bag pack- ing at Sains- bury’s, helping Rotarians with Christmas car parking and or-

ganised an Easter egg raffle. Future plans include a quiz night and a stall at the forthcoming Yalding

Scout Group Garden Safari in June. Although Ruby has been toAus-

tralia with her family and to France with the Scouts, this will be her first big trip overseas on her own. MumJo said: “It will be quite an

adventure – but it is going to be very hot.” Before the trip, Ruby has to at-

tend a number of mini camps lo- cally to learn skills such as eating with chopsticks and speaking Japanese – aswell as getting her fit- ness levels ready to cope with the region’s heat and humidity.

Izzy Jones

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