Coberley Parish is generally a very safe area, but we are not complacent and encourage Neighbourhood Watch schemes and actively participate in community safety groups in the area. With a major transport artery running through our parish – the A436, and numerous small roads being used as busy commuter routes connecting Swindon, Cirencester, Gloucester and Cheltenham, road safety is our major concern.
S.A.F.E.R.
To maintain a focus and drive for improvement on our road danger spots, the Parish Council, together with our County Councillor, supports the S.A.F.E.R. campaign group (Salterley Action Force to Enhance our Roads). This was set up in 2010, initially to address the high number of serious accidents on the 3/377 Leckhampton Hill road (formerly B4070) at Salterley. Following its success in having improved signage and road improvements here, leading to a reduced accident rate, S.A.F.E.R. has now broadened its remit to cover all the roads in Coberley Parish. Its website, http://sites.google.com/site/safercampaign/ gives details of its goals, actions and achievements.
In 2014, Salterley Grange residents set up a Community Speed Watch group, supported by the Parish Council and run in association with the Police and RoadSafety Partnership.
NO CRASH
Coberley Parish Council supports the ‘No Crash’ (North Cotswolds Rural area Against Speeding Harm) group, which is made up of residents who live on the A436 which runs through Coberley parish. The group has been campaigning for lower speeds along the A436 and for better road safety conditions. Meetings are attended by Gloucestershire Highways and, on occasions, Gloucestershire Police.
The group has succeeded in getting some improvements with signage and road markings, but see this as a long term campaign to work with the authorities to do more.
Road Safety Community Hub
A new ‘one-stop-shop’ for reporting road safety concerns in Gloucestershire was launched on 28 October 2016.
The Road Safety Community Hub was launched by Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership, made up of Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire Constabulary, the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office and Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service.
The new hub will be the main point of contact for residents to report any concerns they have about road safety in their local area. Reports can be made via the Road Safety Partnership’s website.
This one central hub will bring together the expertise of the police, engineers and the road safety experts to provide a better, more efficient way of resolving the problems encountered in our towns and villages. It will bring a more consistent approach and because people will know where to go with their concerns, their ideas or for advice, it will make decision making more accountable.
A good number of Parishes have already engaged with the hub through the Road Safety Website: http://roadsafety-
CARS Toolkit
In view of Government cutbacks over the past years, communities recognise that statutory authorities cannot fund non-priority schemes and that Police enforcement resources are limited. Many communities are therefore keen to investigate road safety measures they can take forward to influence driver behaviour, including those relating to traffic calming and speed reduction.
To help them in this, practical ideas for improving road safety in Gloucestershire have been produced by Gloucestershire Rural Communities Council in association with the Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership and community groups in the county. The CARS (Community Approaches to Road Safety) Toolkit can be found at: http://www.grcc.org.uk/downloads/grcc-cars-toolkit-2017.pdf
Safe and Social Driving is a priority area in Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Plans covering 2013-2021 and this second edition of the CARS toolkit has been funded through The Commissioner’s Fund (Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner).