The A4 between Marlborough and Beckhampton is regarded as a fast stretch of road. Busy, very. Hazards? Lots. Traffic has increased massively over recent years and it runs through one of this country’s World Heritage sites, so lots of visitors. It can be hell – for visitors, but also for residents. Residents try to live with it, but some die.
In the past two and a bit years there have been four fatalities, but go back to 2003 and that number increases to six. All local. And over these years many other accidents which have caused life-changing injury. The call is for a speed limit – 50mph – for the overall stretch but down to 40mph in certain key hazardous areas such as West Kennett. And as speed is not the only influence on driver behaviour there have been calls for inexpensive measures such as better signage and road markings all to alert drivers to the many potential hazards.
Wiltshire Council recently commissioned an external consultancy report regarding speed restrictions for this stretch. Their recommendations were for a reduction in speed limit from the national (60mph) to 50mph at West Kennett and the addition of a few farm signs at Clatford. Admittedly since this report was compiled there have been the two recent fatalities, so whether these would have influenced the recommendation, we don’t know.
Interestingly the report (click here to view or download) estimates the total cost of amendments as £8,000. This is to be set against the accepted cost of dealing with any fatal accident as being c.£2m.
Jill Turner of Kennet Valley Parish Council has been leading this campaign, supported by many including East Wiltshire MP Danny Kruger, all other Parish Councils to the west of Marlborough and many others. The only absence is from any lobby campaigning to maintain the conditions as they currently are.
Most recently there was the tragic accident involving Cameron Thomas. Shortly before Cameron’s accident Jonathan Genton was killed, preceded by an Avebury farm worker who was hit and killed when on a quad bike. And Jeff Brown on the stretch adjacent to the Ridgeway not long before that. Also, as noted above every one of those who lost their lives were from this vicinity, they were all local.
This campaign isn’t new. Even a dozen or so years ago proposals were being made to make this stretch safer without incurring great expense. The late Ben Hamilton-Baillie, a renowned consultant specialising in making roads safer as ‘shared spaces’ proposed measures based primarily on road markings, which would make drivers think and be more aware of their surroundings. One example was the adjacent pic of how the road could be adapted at West Kennett.
Wind back three decades or more, conditions were different, traffic was less and also likely average speeds were lower as well. Sure, there were accidents but nothing like the scale that we have all experienced over the past few years.
Earlier today – Tuesday 17 March – BBC Wiltshire ran two pieces regarding this campaign in Ben Frater’s morning show. Alice Macaire, Avebury Parish Councillor and West Kennett resident set out the reasons why a 40mph limit was vital for the West Kennett stretch of the road. Followed by a powerful interview with another West Kennett resident, Susie Birch, who told us all that even when an ambulance was required for an emergency for her daughter, Police would not allow the ambulance to park outside her house – it had to park some way down the road and her daughter then wheeled to the vehicle so that she could be taken to hospital. She explained that there were ‘300,000 visitors’ to this area every year, and that she, and others ‘wanted to keep everyone safe’.
In the second of the pieces BBC’s Ben Frater interviewed Martin Smith, Wiltshire Councillor and Cabinet Member for Highways. Cllr Smith explained: “Traffic Engineers have done their work and this is the recommendation they have come up with. Hemmed in by Govt guidance and regulation, certain things can and can’t do”. Adding: “It’s how much weight you give to the local context and the local data”.
When asked by Ben: “If it was a blatant disregard to be flexible if it means saving a life?” he replied “Sometimes it’s a matter of professional judgement and opinion, it’s not clear cut either way”.
So what happens now? Whilst not ruling out introducing any safety measures, Wiltshire Council would appear not to see this as a priority. And not willing to ‘push the edges’ when it comes to what Cllr Smith described as ‘Govt guidance and regulation’. As one (unnamed) resident, keen for something to be done posed the following question when asked by Marlborough.news for comment: “How many more people have to die before it hits Wiltshire’s priority threshold?”
Cemetery Extension for Marlborough – come ask questions and see the proposal
