By Mark Shelford: Thomas Sheppard Deputy Lieutenant of Somerset visited Bath’s Bloomfield Road Community Action Group, led by Julie Ingerfield on the 5 Nov. Meeting with some of the members of the Group on the side of Bloomfield road dressed in their florescent Community Speed Watch (CSW) uniforms, he discussed the outstanding progress they had made in educating the public in road safety by their regular shifts with speed gun and follow up road safety letters.
Bloomfield Road CSW are the leading Road Safety Community group in Bathnes operating, on average 16 sessions a month and second only, within wider Avon & Somerset, to the town of Somerton at 17 sessions.
The Action Group has campaigned over a three year period to improve the road engineering of Bloomfield Road and they have been successful with the first of 3 Zebra Crossings to help protect children on the way to school & others planned to be installed within the next few months with other changes to roadside structures later in the year.
Julie Ingerfield leader of the Action Group. “ A number of years ago it became clear that pedestrians, particularly children on the way too and from from school, were being subjected to greater risk of tragic accidents by the actions of a careless drivers driving at excessive speed. So residents came together as an action group in the form of a Residents’ Association to campaign for road safety and also formed a Community Speed Watch.” Our CSW data validates our concern and helps makes our case for intervention and increased enforcement.
Thomas Sheppard DL said. “ It is always good to see communities coming together with a common goal and to achieve so much. Whilst all members of the Bloomfield Road Action Group deserve praise for their work I would like to highlight the leadership of Julie Ingerfield as the powerhouse that has driven the community forward.
The Team in the main photo: Julie Ingerfield, Adrian Humphries ( Road Police Enforcement), Ed Catchpole, Andy Borland, Susan Warby & Simon Tatton Brown Neil Terry ( Bathnes) Mark Shelford Not present on the day Chloe Fletcher & Tim Kingham and others.
CSW Community Speed Watch is a national ( Started In Somerset) educational scheme to help people reduce speeding traffic though their community. The scheme enables volunteers to work within their community to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding and to help control the problem locally.
Community Speed Watch incorporates a pledge system linked to direct action using speed detection equipment all under the supervision of the Police or Local Council. The use of the radar devices will not lead to prosecution – drivers will get a letter from the police instead – but will help to underline the community’s commitment to reducing speed.
CSW Bloomfield Road. Over the whole of Avon & Somerset Constabulary area CSW has seen exponential growth during the last 2-3 years and has been one of the success stories of community engagement assisting the Police in improving Road Safety in our communities. Bloomfield Road suffers from an average of 4 serious(causing hospitalisation)crashes a year recorded over the last 20 years.
Figures below are taken from the CSW reporting period July 2023 – June 2024;
No’s of sessions carried out per month by regional areas
B&NES 50 sessions per month
Bristol 8 sessions per month
Mendip 120 sessions per month
N Somerset 37 sessions per month
W Somerset 78 sessions per month
S Somerset 113 sessions per month
S Glos 31 sessions per month
Bloomfield Road figures
Bloomfield Road average 16 Sessions per month
Bloomfield Road CSW account for nearly 1/3 of all B&NES sessions per month
There is only 1 other team in the whole Avon & Somerset Constabulary area that do more (Somerton 17 per month).
Road Engineering;
The proposals currently consist of marked parking bays on the hill to encourage motorists to park wholly within the carriageway rather than partially on the footway (which will also help to moderate vehicle speeds), zebra pedestrian crossings at the junctions of Englishcombe Lane and Hatfield Road and Bloomfield Park and St. Lukes Road, and a zebra pedestrian crossing between Bloomfield Green and Wells Road.
The Somerset Lieutenancy
The Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset and all Deputy Lieutenants are volunteers and the titles are honorary. Aside from royal duties, they promote encourage voluntary and charitable organisations and take an interest in the business, urban and rural, and social life of the county.
Note from the editor: Mark Shelford was the Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner from 13 May 2021 – 8 May 2024 and was elected to Bath and North East Somerset Council as the Conservative member for the Lyncombe ward in the 2015 election losing to the Lib Dems in 2019. Mark is a member of the Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Panel, and the Avon Fire Authority.