Swindon Tory councillors voted last night to axe taxpayer funding of the local Speed Camera Partnership, saying the money spent on fixed cameras would be better spent elsewhere.
Last year Swindon voters coughed up £320,000 to pay for the cameras, while all the revenue from speeding tickets went straight into treasury coffers.
Speaking on the BBC this morning, local Tory councillor Peter Greenhalgh said current government road safety policy was ineffective.
“Department of Transport annual results show that nationally 6% of accidents are caused by people breaking speed limits yet almost 100% of government road safety money is invested in speed cameras,” he told listeners. “I can see that’s wrong, and the people of this country can see that’s wrong.”
Wiltshire Police, who supported the fixed cameras, have warned that Swindon is not likely to become a safe haven for speeders as they are considering increasing the use of handheld mobile cameras instead.
Swindon council’s labour contingent opposed the decision, but council leader Rod Bluh summed up the move last night with the following statement: “If you think the status quo isn’t working then you need to challenge that. If we can’t do that then maybe we shouldn’t be councillors.”
The Swindon decision is likely to give added impetus to the anti-camera lobby nationally, with other councils watching reaction carefully.
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