| Community Speedwatch |

| Our Four Aims |

Knapton’s Road Safety Initiatives

Hall Lane Junction

To reduce the speed of traffic crossing the junction between Hall Lane and Knapton Road

Re-alignment

We propose to re-align the junction to create a more clearly defined turn with additional signage

our progress

Junction

30mph Speed Limit

To reduce the speed limit on Hall Lane between MADRA and the Butterfly Car Park

Speed Limit Extension

We propose to work with Highways to reduce vehicle speeds and improve pedestrian safety

COMPLETED

30mph limit

SAM2 Speed Sign

To monitor and report vehicles exceeding the legal speed limit in and around the village

To enforce the 30mph limit

To locate a SAM2 vehicle speed sign with camera at multiple sites in Hall Lane, The Street and Knapton Road.

See our plans here

COMPLETED

SAM2

Pond Lane Reduction

To reduce near-miss incidents and risk to pedestrians on the narrow road of Pond Lane

To reduce the 60mph limit

To reduce the speed limit on Pond Lane from 60mph to 30mph

our progress

Pond Lane

Our four main aims

Each of the four boxes above represent a road safety initiative and links to the relative page where you can read more.

An overview of our Road Safety initiatives

Instances of drivers ignoring speed limits and completely disregarding the safety of others at the junction of Hall Lane and Knapton Road together with heavy vehicles using The Street and the quiet lanes as rat-runs to Bacton Gas Terminal have steadily increased in recent years, causing concern and distress for residents and road users alike.

Parish Council records show that over the years, questions have been raised about safety on our roads time and again by concerned councillors and residents alike, but nothing was done because of the difficulty in trying to address them.

share your thoughts…

Using our Contact Form you can ask questions, make comments or let us know about anything you feel is relevant by selecting Road Safety from the Subject drop-down box.

Don’t forget to let us know if you would like us to add your comment to our Road Safety blog at the bottom of this page.

click here to monitor our progress and view our time-line blog which we update at every significant stage

It’s time to stop kicking the can down the road.
I have a great team around me who share my view that with the completion of the Wilds Way development, the time is right to make a concerted effort to effect changes which will make a real difference to the residents of Knapton Parish before someone is seriously injured, or worse.
But no-one should be under any illusion, it’s going to be a long and difficult journey. The obstacles are daunting, the hoops are barely big enough to jump through and the financial implications will be challenging. Early conversations with the Police and the Highways Department would suggest at least eighteen months and that’s assuming we are successful, but until we start, the clock isn’t even running.
All that said, with the help of our residents, I’m confident we can do it.

Peter Neatherway
Knapton Parish Council | Chair

Fresh from the success of refurbishing the village playground, the current parish council is fast earning a well deserved reputation for getting things done and it has decided that dealing with road safety in and around our village is next on the list of long standing issues to finally be dealt with. It has setup a dedicated committee to focus efforts on improving road safety in the village and work with neighbouring parishes to make our roads safer for residents and road users alike.

The Road Safety Committee

Working with the Police, Highways & Bacton Gas Terminal

Existing Road Signage

The Road Safety Committee comprises of three councillors and is Chaired by Councillor John Lawton.

Councillor John Lawton
Councillor Peter Neatherway
Councillor Liz Winter

The committee is responsible for pursuing the Parish Council’s road safety initiatives and you can read more about each of them by clicking on the appropriate box below.

Road Safety Blog
Our Road Safety Blog, which has its own dedicated page, is updated as the initiatives progress. You can view add your thoughts and comments using the Contact Form and choosing Road Safety Blog as the subject

The Police & Highways Department
The committee have met with PC Paul Gwynn, North Walsham Beat Manager, and Steve White of the Highways Department.

Any proposed changes to our road layout or to speed limits will need to be approved and sanctioned by the Highways Department.

It is vital to build an argument to justify change and recording the number of speeding vehicles plays a big part of that. The Police will provide the Speed Watch team with the equipment and training, as well as following up identified speed issues by locating mobile speed cameras to verify the issue. Only with these results will highways consider any changes in speed limits and it is also entirely at Highways discretion as to whether the junction at Hall Lane / Knapton Road can be re-aligned.

It is also important to appreciate that some of our issues may have to be resolved by enforcing the law, as opposed to making changes which Highways will not permit, which would, of course, be a Police matter.

Bacton Gas Terminal
The authorities at BGT have approved routes for vehicle specifically travelling to and from the terminal. Instances where it can be shown that companies are not adhering to these agreed routes can be penalised or have their licence to supply removed. We therefore need to liaise with them to deal with some of the traffic issues in The Street.

While we’re on the subject of road safety, we looked at the state of our road signs and found a couple which have faded, so we’ve asked for them to be replaced.
We also found a couple which have become obscured, like the one in the picture below.

Can you see the sign…

When you think you can, or you’ve given up trying, pass the mouse over the picture and we’ll reveal it…

Community Speedwatch

An amazing group of residents in our village, led by Tracey Healey, have managed to setup a Knapton Community Speedwatch.
The Parish Council is proud to support them and you can find out more about their project, read their blog and have your say on our dedicated web page.
Well done to Tracey and her team

Community Speedwatch page

| Back to the top of this page |