Report to:

Lead Member for Transport and Environment

 

Date of meeting:

 

27 January 2025

By:

Director of Communities, Economy and Transport

 

Title:

Petition: Installation of a speed camera in Upperton Road, Eastbourne

 

Purpose:

To consider a petition to install a speed camera in the vicinity of the zebra crossing in Upperton Road, to monitor traffic travelling towards the town centre

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS: The Lead Member is recommended to advise the petitioners that:

(1)  The area in the vicinity of the zebra crossing on Upperton Road does not meet the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership criteria for a speed camera; and

(2)  The existing speed camera further along Upperton Road, near the Goffs is due to be replaced in 2025.

 

 

1       Background Information

1.1.        At the County Council meeting on 8 October 2024, a petition was presented to the Chairman by Councillor Rodohan. The petitioners are requesting a speed camera in the vicinity of the zebra crossing on Upperton Road.

1.2.         Standing Orders provide that where the Chairman considers it appropriate, petitions are considered by the relevant Committee or Lead Member and a spokesperson for the petitioners is invited to address the Committee. The Chairman has referred this petition to the Lead Member for Transport and Environment. A copy of the petition is available in the Members’ Room.

           

2       Supporting Information

2.1       Upperton Road is subject to a 30mph speed limit by virtue of the presence of streetlights. A plan of the road showing the position of the zebra crossing is shown in Appendix 1 along with photographs of the site in both directions.

2.2          The use of safety cameras is controlled by the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP). There is strict national guidance on the use of cameras that ensures they are only used to improve road safety and not as a way of raising extra revenue.

2.3          Sites where there have been crashes involving excessive speed are considered for speed cameras.

2.4          The crash data provided by Sussex Police, for the roads identified by the petitioners, indicates that there has been one fatality at the crossing and one crash involving a slight injury 60 metres to the north of the crossing in the latest 3-year period up to 31 October 2024. A plan showing the location of these crashes can be found at Appendix 2.

2.5          The Road Safety Team routinely engage with Sussex Police following crashes that result in a fatality or serious injury to discuss the full details of the crash, consider if there were any highway related causation factors and ensure appropriate action is taken if required. There were no highway related causation factors identified in the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash that occurred at the site in 2023.

2.6       The site has been assessed against the criteria for a speed camera. The crash history and the causation factors of these crashes at the site for the previous 3-year period mean that the threshold for a speed camera to be considered has not been met.

 

3     Conclusion and Reasons for Recommendations

3.1       It is therefore recommended that the Lead Member advises the petitioners that a speed camera does not meet the requirements set out by the SSRP for the provision of a speed camera.

3.2       Petitioners should also be informed that the existing damaged speed camera on Upperton Road will be replaced, and the SSRP are considering the use of mobile enforcement to provide a form of visibility in the interim.

 

RUPERT CLUBB

Director of Communities, Economy and Transport

Contact Officer: Jo Reed
Tel. No. 01273 482951
Email: jo.reed@eastsussex.gov.uk

 

LOCAL MEMBERS

Councillor Pat Rodohan

Councillor John Ungar

 

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS

None