Calls are mounting to reinstate funding for Gloucestershire’s community speed watch program, which was quietly scrapped earlier this year to support the rollout of 20mph speed limits across the county.
With only around 40 of the roughly 400 villages and communities set to benefit from the new limits, Conservative councillors at Shire Hall are pushing to bring back the volunteer-led scheme. They propose allocating £360,000 to fund community speed watch activities — including recording vehicle speeds with specialised equipment and deploying vehicle-activated signage — aiming to address speeding in areas overlooked by the new 20mph zones.
The Tories suggest this funding could come from reallocations within Gloucestershire County Council’s public health budget or the Liberal Democrat video production budget.
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Councillor Tom Bradley (C, Campden-Vale), spearheading the campaign for reinstatement, remarked, “During the election, safer roads were heralded as a key Lib Dem priority. Sadly, communities across the county are realizing the Lib Dem promises don’t match their actions. The botched roll-out of their flagship safer roads plan—and now the withdrawal of support for community speed cameras and signage—leaves many areas vulnerable to speeding with no tools to fight back.
“We Conservatives will always stand by our communities and back practical steps to make roads safer—not just offer empty words.”
Daryl Corps, a Conservative councillor in the Cotswolds (Moreton, Stow and the Rissingtons), echoed these concerns: “For many rural communities, the message is clear: if you didn’t get selected for Community 20s, you’re essentially left on your own. That’s not a road safety strategy; it’s a postcode lottery. Many parishes I represent feel abandoned. They’re not asking for much — just practical measures like speed cameras or flashing signs that genuinely help keep their communities safe.
“To some, a community speed camera might seem trivial. But for a village worried about speeding traffic, it can make all the difference.”
In response, Liberal Democrat cabinet member Roger Whyborn (Benhall and Up Hatherley), responsible for road safety, defended the council’s approach. He said the Safer Roads and Community 20s programme is “based on robust casualty and collision data, not perception.” Whyborn emphasized that the highest risks — and the greatest potential to prevent serious injury or death — are concentrated in specific locations. Redirecting funds away from this targeted, data-driven approach could reduce the overall effectiveness of road safety efforts.
He further noted, “There is limited evidence that community speed watch, cameras, or signage alone deliver sustained reductions in collisions or serious injuries at a network-wide level. By focusing investment where it will save the most lives, we ensure fairness isn’t about equal distribution, but about prioritizing the greatest risk.”
Whyborn concluded by affirming the council’s ongoing commitment to supporting communities through advice, engagement, and future phases of the programme while stressing the need to use limited resources in the most effective way possible to reduce casualties.