Many of you may have seen an article in the Journal over Christmas. The parish council would like to clarify some details. The scheme referred to in the article was drawn up by Suffolk County Council's Highways Department in conjunction with the parish council and Cllr Michael Ladd in 2019. Cllr Ladd organised the funding for the scheme to be developed. It was due to go out to public consultation when lockdown happened last year. The council supported the first three elements of the scheme but wanted community input. Specifically, the council wanted London Road residents view on the speed cushions (phase 4) as they can create a noise nuisance. As we will be nearly two years on by the time we can go to public consultation the elements are now being re-costed rather than place incorrect information before Kessingland residents and businesses.
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In the Spring of 2021 the parish council invested in a new Speed Indication Device (SID) which as well as displaying drivers speed, records the information. This gives us a good indication of whether there is a lot of speeding in any specific location but more importantly if there are any common trends in the speeding. The council is proposing to purchase a second SID in 2022.
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The information from the SIDs will be used by the new Speedwatch group which the council has been working with Suffolk Police to set up since June. We have recently had enough volunteers come forward for the group to be formally recognised and for training to be organised. Again Cllr Ladd has been fully supportive of this project and we would welcome any members of RANS who would like to be involved.
At present the vast majority of the village has a maximum 30mph speed limit, although some areas do have 20mph zones. However despite the quotes in your article there are no plans for the whole village to be 30mph. There is a section of 40mph at the northern end of London Road as well as the by-pass and there are no plans to reduce either of those to 30mph at this time.
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None of this deters from the fact that speeding, particularly on the section of the A12 which goes through Pakefield, Gisleham and Kessingland is a key concern. The parish council has offered suggestions and put forward the by-pass as a prime location for Suffolk Police to trial their new speed cameras. The issue was raised with our MP Peter Aldous at a public meeting of the parish this autumn, he advised that there are discussions taking place between himself, Suffolk Police and the various tiers of local government however it is unlikely that there would be any cheap or easy solutions. It is however an issue for which a solution is needed.
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Kessingland Parish Council does welcome the attention that RANS are bringing to the issue of speeding but most of the work outlined in the article was carried out prior to their formation and does not affect speeding on the Kessingland by-pass. The parish council would happily work with any group which wants to improve life for the parish and we have been contacted by another group, Kessingland Residents, who would like to be involved with the council. The parish council is made up of Kessingland residents who work for the good of the parish and appreciate involvement and feedback from the Kessingland community.