Creeting St Peter: a 20 mph speed limit?

I returned home on my community bus this evening, only to notice that a Speed Indication Device, or SID for short, was placed by the roadside near the parish noticeboard. You will doubtless be pleased to hear that my speed was recorded as being 'Lo', which I think is probably a good thing.

I was reminded that, whilst we were away, the Parish Council newsletter had been delivered, along with a slip of paper described as a questionnaire, asking for our views on a 20 mph speed limit for the village, and for the Police speed enforcement van to visit Creeting St Peter.

So, what do I think?

Meet SID, the scourge of speeding motorists...

Firstly, is there evidence of speeding in the village? I'm not convinced that there is, especially as the only road through the village is narrow, includes a blind curve in the middle and is often partly blocked by parked vehicles. Indeed, anecdotal evidence from other villages is that speeding is predominantly a local habit - they know the roads rather better than outsiders.

Second, what are the implications of introducing a speed limit? Will engineering in the form of speed humps or traffic calming measures be required and how much will that cost? And will traffic calming measures be popular? And, finally, are those drivers minded to ignore the 30 mph speed limit signs that already exist likely to obey 20 mph signs, especially given the almost certainty that there will be no policing activity?

I'm not so sure that the potential price is one that is worth paying, and in the absence of evidence of a genuine problem, I'm not entirely minded to blindly support the proposal. So, I'll be filling in our questionnaire raising these points, with a degree of confidence that my view will be ignored in any event - hence this post.

I was led to believe in the past that a speed enforcement vehicle needs a minimum amount of straight line visibility to measure speeding, and that Creeting St Peter didn't meet those criteria. If that has changed, I have no objection to having it come to the village - I don't drive, and Ros is a very cautious driver anyway. Besides, evidence-based policy is good...

We'll see what happens when polls close at the end of May, but I'm expecting the result to be in favour of a 20 mph speed limit. I just wonder if my fellow residents will be quite so keen if speed humps are required...