Budget cuts to Merseyside Road Safety Partnership could see reduction in number of operational Wirral speed cameras

Aug 18 2010 by Matt Hurst, Bromborough and Bebington News

A ROAD safety partnership that delivered a 23% reduction in collisions is facing cuts that could see New Chester Road’s three speed cameras cease to operate.

It total, there are eight fixed site speed cameras in Wirral – and half of them cover the A41 corridor and Higher Bebington.

Their maintenance, alongside other work by the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership (MRSP), delivered a substantial drop in traffic incidents.

Alongside the reduction in collisions as a whole, the partnership has overseen a 28% fall in serious injury and a 42% drop in slight injury, since its inception in 2005.

But a 27% shortfall in funding now means many sites could become little more than roadside ornaments.

Dave Foulkes, MRSP manager said: “We’re not losing cameras, we are maintaining our numbers of cameras.

“But if you lose back office staff you lose the capability to maintain all those prosecutions.”

Mr Foulkes was responding to the Coalition Government’s decision to slash £38million from this year’s national road safety budget, which translates to a £400,000 cut across Merseyside.

And he fears the drop in budget could impact the partnership in the broadest sense.

He added: “We don’t actually have any staff. There are only three of us here.

“But the back office staff who process these things work for our partners, including Merseyside Police and local authorities, who are all facing budget cuts.

“How they choose to absorb those cuts, I could not say.”

Cllr Dave Mitchell covers Eastham ward, where one of the A41 cameras is placed.

Cllr Mitchell said: “I believe speed cameras have a beneficial effect. I support them being there.”

Dave Foulkes added: “Speed cameras are still a deterrent as no one will know which camera is active. Anyone thinking of driving through one should know it’s a risky tactic.”