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  • "It seems that the Liberal Democrat council, supported by the Greens and Conservatives all support this proposal. You will get this whether you agree with it or not. You can complain to your councillor but he/she has already publicly supported it. Once again, the political parties have conspired to give you, the electorate, no choice in the matter.

    We at UKIP in Watford would like to raise the following points: We would like to inject a little common sense, objectivity and cost saving into the council thinking if we can.

    1 Has the council done any surveys of the people of Watford to see if this is supported? Do the people of Watford actually want this change and do they think it an overwhelmingly good idea?
    2 Has the Council done any work on how much a feasibility study would cost?
    3 Has the council any idea of the cost of replacing all the speed signs that will be required around Watford?
    4 Has Watford Council studied the facts of where and why RTAs (Road Traffic Accidents) happen on our roads? For instance,
    a. Are side roads a real issue?
    b. Are the existing laws enough to reduce the number of accidents that occur if they were properly enforced? We are thinking of law-breaking drink drivers and drivers who exceed the existing 30m.p.h. speed limit by driving at 40, 50 or even 60 m.p.h. on our 30m.p.h. roads? We remain unconvinced that a 20m.p.h. limit would be of any more significance to those drivers than a 30m.p.h. limit.

    Before spending our money on feasibility studies and changing the signs and the law, we would like the council to do the following two things:

    1 Ask the people of Watford whether they want it. UKIP policy would be to hold a referendum in Watford if such a policy was seriously considered for implementing. The least the council could do is to hold random statistically significant surveys of town residents.
    2 If people want it, then find out whether it is needed – would it make a significant difference on the side streets of Watford?


    Cars and roads work well at 30m.p.h.

    The amount of accidents on side roads is low.

    Why is there then a need to make this expensive and unnecessary change to our roads?

    There is a pressure group “20’s plenty”. It campaigns for a 20m.p.h. limit on side roads. The Greens and Liberals seem to have jumped onto this bandwagon and are now determined to impose this on Watford. The 20’s Plenty website shows that the vast majority of serious accidents in Watford are clustered around main roads where this policy will have NO effect at all. There is no information on the details of each accident, whether drink or excessive speeding was involved.

    Accidents happen. Accidents will always happen. Accidents are an unfortunate fact of life. Should we stop everyone in Watford from driving in a perfectly safe way at the nationally recognised speed limit, which is deemed overwhelmingly safe for use throughout the land, because a very small number of people have accidents? Most of these accidents are not on side roads, they are overwhelmingly on main roads where limits will not be changed.

    This seems to be, on the face of what’s been written in this article in the W.O., a case of the local council coming up with another way of telling you how to run your lives. Another example of the Nanny State that cannot trust the people and so must tell them what to do or think. We in UKIP believe there is another way. If you agree, come and join us and help make the difference.

    Details on our website.

    B.T.W. Well done Watford Observer for holding a vote on these proposals on your website."
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Campaign for 20mph Watford backed by politicians

5:30pm Thursday 22nd March 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Mike Wright , Chief Reporter

Campaign for 20mph Watford backed by politicians Campaign for 20mph Watford backed by politicians

A campaign to drop speed limits across Watford to 20mph has found unanimous backing among the borough’s politicians.

At meeting of the full council on Wednesday councillors lent full-throated support to the 20’s Plenty campaign and voted to take up the case with county highways bosses.

The Liberal Democrats and Green Party councillors jointly sponsored a motion saying the council will now push for the speed limit to be cut to 20mph in all "non-major" residential roads in the town.

The motion argued the move would bring a host of benefits to the town such as reducing accidents, encouraging walking and reducing emissions.

It also said that reducing the average speed from 30mph to 20mph would only increase a 15-minute journey through affected roads by one minute.

Liberal Democrat councillor Iain Sharpe put the motion to the council at yesterday’s meeting saying it aimed to change the driving culture in Watford.

He said one of the barriers to creating smaller 20mph zones was the current requirement for expensive traffic calming measures like speed humps to make them self-enforcing.

Councillor Sharpe argued a blanket zone for residential roads would simply require the changing of signs.

"We are not talking about changing the physical environment," he said, "but the climate of what people think is an appropriate speed to drive at.

"Any Jeremy Clarkson fans among us can object and point to the declining number of fatalities on the on the roads. But it is among the drivers and occupants of cars as they have safety measures such as air bags, not the poor pedestrians."

The leader of the Green Party group, Councillor Steve Rackett, seconded the motion saying: "I would like to see all parties support this and for us go to county with a united stand to persuade their portfolio holder."

The move was backed by Labour, with Councillor Asif Khan saying he had friends who had lost a young child in a road accident.

He added: "It shows our intention that things like this do not happen on our roads, that’s why we support this motion."

The Conservative group on the council also pledged their support to the motion.

Following the cross-party backing for the 20mph zone, Watford’s elected mayor, Dorothy Thornhill, said the council had to show resolve in pushing for the policy.

She said she anticipated a negative reaction to the proposal from some quarters of the town and urged politicians to make a convincing case to residents for the speed limit cut.

"If we don’t take people with us there will be a backlash," she said.

The motion was passed with an overwhelming vote of support meaning Mayor Thornhill will ask Hertfordshire County Council, which oversees highways policy, to undertake a feasibility study for the project.

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