Things were getting bad...
A row has broken out over plans by Swindon council to be the first to scrap speed cameras. Councillors are expected to agree to pull out of the Wiltshire and Swindon Safety Camera Partnership at a meeting next Wednesday.
Town bosses have described speed cameras as a ‘blatant tax on the motorists’ and civic leaders claim the Government keeps all the £60 fines. They believe that the £320,000 they pay the partnership would be better spent on vehicle-activated speed signs and improved street lighting.
Tory councilor Peter Greenhalgh said: 'These are far more effective than speed cameras which, I feel, are a blatant tax on the motorist. There are much more important things we as a council should do instead of acting as a law enforcement arm of this Government.
'We treat road safety very seriously, but the £320,000 we pay into the Partnership goes straight into the Government's pockets. We've never received anything back. We feel this money could be spent on a more effective range of local safety measures such as improved road surfaces and lighting.'
One councillor opposed to the scheme said the plans are madness. Derique Montaut, Labour’s transport spokesman, said: ‘The proposal to withdraw from the Safety Camera Partnership is absolute madness. This is Swindon Council playing politics with people’s lives. Swindon has had problems of boy racers in the past, and this will make the situation worse.’
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