Wollerton residents have welcomed plans for a 30mph speed limit through the village in a week when another accident reinforced their concerns.
No one was injured in the crash last Friday evening when a blue Nissan Micra, travelling from Hodnet, ploughed into fencing and skidded across the old A53 Drayton Road.
Wollerton couple Derek and Penny Hodge, whose fence was damaged in the crash, claimed it was the third such incident there in the last few years.
Members of Shropshire Council’s northern area regulatory committee voted for the speed limit to be introduced, despite West Mercia Police objections about its enforcement.
Mr and Mrs Hodge said: “We welcome the compulsory 30mph speed limit as a means of slowing down traffic and frankly, it can’t come soon enough. Over the last five or six years, we’ve had our front gates smashed three times and the entire hedge frontage replaced at varying intervals.
“Despite the ample warning signs as you approach Wollerton from Hodnet, which include ‘Slow’ written on the road three times, people continue to drive too fast.”
Richard Parr, a Wollerton resident for 11 years, also welcomed the 30mph limit which is due to be introduced over the next month.
“We’re delighted because it means that it’s going to be safer for our kids to walk where there aren’t any pavements and it’ll make drivers slow down,” he said
Shropshire councillors rejected police advice that the speed limit was unworkable without traffic calming measures and would place “undue demands” on its resources.
Committee chairman Councillor Karen Calder said: “It became clear through the debate that both parties wanted the same objective, but it was the means of achieving that which was in dispute.
“The council believes the starting point should be the introduction of a 30mph limit with vehicle activated signs.
“If, after a period of monitoring, the speeds have not significantly been reduced, then other engineering devices could be looked at.”
North Shropshire police inspector Sarah Wagstaff said: “I can totally understand and appreciate the community’s wish regarding slowing traffic down on this road.
“However, the layout of it is such that there are no measures in place, apart from the impending signs, to reduce speed.
“Wollerton is a beautiful North Shropshire location and I genuinely hope the speed limit alone is effective – but only time will tell.”
By Winston Brown
