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Lack of speed cameras means more speeding

I was intrigued to read the article about Wiltshire having the least number of offences for speeding, in the whole of the Country, for the past year.

The reason for it is quite simple. All speeding cameras have been switched off and enforcement checks by the Police are non-existent.

Consequently, the number being caught has dropped.

In my opinion, driving standards and in particular speeding has got significantly worse.

Across Swindon there are numerous signs which illuminate when you are in excess of the speed limit.

Two of them are in Covingham Drive, not far from The Messenger Public House.

I use the adjacent cycle track for my daily ride to Wanborough and back.

Without doubt, a lot of motorists continue to speed.

I see about 80 per cent of vehicles driving in excess of 30mph speed limit.

The two signs are illuminated virtually all of the time.

Speeding drivers is becoming the norm rather than the exception, wherever you go.

People do it because there is no deterrent, whether it be by a speed camera or Police check.

It’s essential the cameras are switched back on with fines going to local rather than central Government.

The Tories have promised an increase to Police numbers.

If it happens, it will mean they can deploy officers to start doing speed checks once more.

If both these measures are implemented, then the number of motorists being caught and fines issued will, without doubt, increase significantly over the coming year.

Hit them in the pocket with a fine and, if appropriate, endorse their license too.

It’s the only way to make motorists change their ways.

Consequently, the roads will be safer for all users.

Alan Wilson, Shapwick Close, Nythe, Swindon

Let’s seize the day

Now that the spending spree heralding the religious festival and the sales are over, it is perhaps a good time to reflect on the issue.

It would be true to say that shoppers’ have never had it so good.

With internet, retail parks and High Street vying for their custom then prices are probably falling. So one must ask, what is the problem if price is the only criterion that matter?

Of course it isn’t and people still want the ‘high street experience’ and so the issue is how to create a 21st Century shopping experience that combines the three elements mentioned above.

Most retailers seem to be pinning their hopes of improved fortunes on a cut in business rates and the apprentice levy: no new thinking to adapt to assimilate the new reality. The government is no better seeking to pump millions of our cash into the outmoded, currently-failing situation.

In my view, what is needed is for a place like Swindon to embark on a cross-country review of other towns to assess how they are doing. Apart from some particular experiences, common themes can be examined and maybe they could work here.

Really there is no option. Minor adjustments to the present situation will, in my view, condemn the present experience to a lingering death. We need to seize the day and be countrywide leaders in a new retail experience, embracing what’s best from the Hight Street model, on-line click-n-collect and retail venues centred around café/leisure centres.

Robert Pixton, Abney Moor, Liden