NEWSFLASH BULLETIN: an opportunity for WGRA to share in a community Speed Indicator Device (SID) – we need your support now!
Background
Some residents will recall WGRA’s ongoing attempts to tackle speeding – our Westgate Action Week in 2019, our Community Speedwatch using a hand-held speed gun, and our previous work to try and get our own Speed Indicator Device (SID) on Westgate’s lampposts. We will be looking to reinvigorate our Speedwatch team with new volunteers – more on that in a future bulletin. Regarding our SID ambitions – West Sussex County Council Highways (WSCC) was not supportive – in part as there has been no fatality on our road(!) and their view that the impact of SIDs is diminished if there are too many in an area. However, WSCC agreed to a SID in Fishbourne village (which you may have seen) and has now agreed to work with the City Council and local communities on agreeing to two roving devices in the City.
WGRA cannot go it alone, so our best chance of getting a SID on Westgate is the following……please act now if you can.
Proposal
Our committee is supporting an initiative led by Parklands Residents’ Association: to work with the City Council to purchase two SIDs for Chichester City, that different neighbourhoods and streets can use and rotate as required. This would mean that Westgate would get its turn with a SID, we do not have to raise all of the cost (up to £5000) nor have all the hassle of coordinating volunteers to move it around, change batteries etc. The SIDs have to be moved around regularly and there will be demand for them, but Westgate could expect to have a SID every say 6 months for a fortnight.
The benefits for the City including Westgate are cited on the link below but include:-
– being a practical, visible response to’ concerns about unsafe driving speeds ;
– detailed data is collected on driving speeds and safer driving is encouraged – the SIDs thank drivers for driving within the speed limit, display the speed driven to all road users, and ask speeding drivers to slow down;
– increased public awareness of the impact of speed on our communities, through community conversation and publicity;
Good news so far….
The City Council and their Finance Committee have last week agreed to fund one SID in full. The other SID needs to be funded by the community. Further support is available from the WSCC Local Committee which meets in November. It has funding for community-backed applications which need to include evidence of public support.
How do Westgate residents pledge to support?
A Spacehive online crowd-funding page has therefore been launched and is collecting pledges from the public.
Using Spacehive is a secure way to pitch your support for the SID to WSCC. All you need to do is register on the Spacehive site and make a small pledge (between £2 and £10) which will demonstrate your support for the project. Lots of small pledges are more powerful than a few big ones. For the price of a coffee, you can lend your support to get these SIDs up and running around central Chichester!
Action needed by 6 November!
If you think this is a good idea, please act now – the initial deadline is Friday 6 November. The Spacehive page will remain open until 2nd December when the project will either be funded but our early response is key.
· Register at https://www.spacehive.com/community-safety-drive—chichester (more information there) and make your pledge by creating a one-off direct debit with Go Cardless (it takes 2 minutes, no one sees your bank details, it is secure etc)
· Donations will only be taken from your account when a fundraiser either meets its target or not. ie December
· Spacehive is the official fundraising platform because this is a secure site to pitch the project for WSCC support through its Community Initiative grant.
· Please pledge – the community must show its support and lots of small backers will count for more than a few bigger donations and hopefully WSCC will make up the difference. We suggest anything from £2-£10 if you are able. £5 from two separate people is actually even better than a single donation of £10 as it shows more people supported!
PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A SMALL PLEDGE NOW!