Statement from Leavening Parish Council regarding Speeding Vehicles in the Village 19 April 2023
What have we done to tackle complaints about speeding? Leavening Parish Council took the decision to purchase two vehicle-activated speed signs (MVAS) in 2021 and these have been used to collect data on speeding at two sites at the entrance to the Village at York Road and the road to Leavening Brow. One of these signs is currently being shared with other local villages and is regularly in rotation between them.
Data from the MVAS signs has been shared at the last Annual Village Meeting which has held on 18th May 2022. Minutes from this meeting can be found HERE
Data from last year indicates the following trends:
Over a three-month period 85% of vehicles were traveling at 30 mph or less.
95% were recorded at doing 35mph or less.
308 vehicles passed the signs traveling between 30 and 40 mph
The Parish Council agreed that it was clear that there was no endemic speeding issue in Leavening but acknowledged there were periods when a small number of individual vehicles were traveling well over the accepted speed limit. The data did not show us what type of vehicles were involved or if it was the same vehicle involved. We also acknowledge that the presence of the MVAS signs is important to lowering speed levels but also this is a community that can have seasonal heavy traffic due to farm vehicles.
Following agreement with residents at the Annual Village Meeting, the Parish Council formally signed up to support the national “20s Plenty Campaign” in July last year. This campaign is aimed at reducing speed limits in built-up areas to enhance safety, wellbeing and the environment. Whilst this lower speed limit is currently not enforceable, the Parish Council believes safe driving through our Village should be encouraged and is important to the fabric of our community.
You can find out more about the campaign’s progress on the following channels:
What can you do? We are encouraging residents to get together to form a campaign group that can help lobby for a reduction in the speed limit across North Yorkshire and also support the Parish Council in making Leavening a great place to live. You can find out more about how to do this through the 20s Plenty Website: https://www.20splenty.org/setupacampaign
Next Steps The Parish Council will shortly review the most up-to-date data sets from the MVAS signs and will report these to residents of Leavening. We are also considering other sensible measures which may help encourage sensible driving through the Village.
If you would like to become part of a volunteer group to support speed reduction in the Village, we will be running an information session in the coming weeks. Please register your interest in attending via email to clerk@leavening.online. Further information will be circulated once a date is confirmed.