Chitterne Parish Council

The Parish Council has gathered further evidence about traffic through Chitterne, including a village survey, residents' meetings and data from the Speed Indicator Device (SID). The message is clear: Speed and traffic volume are the principal concerns, together with pedestrian safety and heavy vehicles. The SID recorded around 65,000 vehicle movements a month in June and July, with nearly one vehicle in five travelling at 35 mph or above.  As we all know the problem is made worse when traffic is displaced from the A303 by closures, incidents or congestion around Stonehenge.

On 4 September, we are bringing together the organisations with responsibilities for, or an interest in, these issues. These include Dr Andrew Murrison MP, Inspector Louise Oakley Wiltshire Police, Perry Payne Wiltshire Road Safety Manager, Christopher Newbury Local Councillor, Chris Hildrup National Highways Route Manager Wiltshire, David Bullock (plus relevant highways officers) Wiltshire Council.  We want to examine practical measures including:

• a 20 mph limit throughout the village;
• appropriate traffic calming and better pedestrian provision;
• improved signage;
• more effective, data-led enforcement; and
• average-speed cameras.

We are not expecting one measure to solve the problem. The aim is to identify what can realistically be done, who is responsible for taking it forward and how progress will be followed up.  Our objective is simple: to manage the speed, volume and type of traffic using the B390 in a way that properly recognises it passes through the centre of our village.

We very much hope that as many of you as possible will join us at the village hall at 6pm on 4th September.  Good attendance will show how important this is to the residents of the village.