Volunteers wanted for speed watch

Spalding’s Community Speed Watch scheme is ready to launch.

South Lincolnshire Community Speed Watch organiser Coun Jan Whitbourn has long wanted to set up the volunteer scheme in the town as she says it’s where she gets the most reports of speeding drivers.
However, as Spalding doesn’t have a parish council, there was nobody to take on the public liability insurance.
Now Coun Whitbourn, who has persuaded the police to cover the insurance, is urging people to come forward and volunteer to get training and then head out in groups of three at spots where frequent speeding is reported.
Offenders’ details are noted and sent to the police who send out letters, the build up of which can lead to punishments.
“We need people to get on board and come to the training sessions that take less than an hour,” she told a meeting of the Spalding Town Forum last week.
“It’s been six years I’ve been pushing for it so let’s try and get everyone involved.”
Turn to Tulip Talk on page 20 for more information and details on how to apply.
* Another Community Speed Watch group looking for more volunteers are based around Weston Hills.
Through the village’s parish council insurance they’ve been going for four years.
The volunteers go out at least twice a week.
“It’s about making people aware of the dangers and slowing people down,” said the leader of the Weston Hills group Chris Dark. “We have seen a difference and people driving slower in the 30mph areas.
“We do also enjoy it though and it’s quite social.
“You do get some abuse, but you get plenty of other nice comments. One driver stopped us to thank us of making him aware of the speed limit.
“We’ve got six volunteers at the moment but we need more so we can have two groups going at one time.”
Anyone looking to join Weston Hills can contact Chris on christopheradark@gmail.com or via Jan.