Swindon Tories prepare to be first council to pull the plug on speed cameras

The Daily Mail reports that Conservative-run Swindon Borough Council is likely to end its £400,000 sponsorship of a speed camera project, claiming that the money could be better spent on other road safety measures and that Labour is simply using speed cameras as a cash cow. 

Tory councillor Peter Greenhalgh told the Mail:

"We treat road safety seriously but we pay about £400,000 a year to the partnership, which goes straight into the Government's pockets. We don't get anything back. Instead this money should be spent on local safety measures. These are far more effective than speed cameras which, I feel, are a blatant tax on the motorist. They are being used as a cash cow. I take exception to the positioning of some mobile speed cameras. They are designed to raise revenue. Enough is enough."

Cllr Greenhalgh favours the money being diverted to "improved road cambers and vehicle-activated signs".  The Government claims that 1,745 deaths and serious injuries are prevented each year by the use of speed cameras.  Conservatives on Wiltshire County Council hope that Swindon will continue to support the speed camera project.

> Video of a BBC Politics Show discussion of Swindon Tories' plans - edited by TalkSwindon.org