YORK and North Yorkshire's Mayor has been urged to think of Craven communities when it comes to the installation of the county's first average speed cameras.
David Skaith has described the absence of fixed, average speed cameras in the county as 'shameful' and has allocated £2 million towards their installation.
At a recent meeting of North Yorkshire Council he said where the cameras were sited would be an operational matter for the police and the North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, but he did pay tribute to the contribution of Craven campaigners.
Mr Skaith dismissed arguments against the use of fixed cameras and said there was clear evidence that their use brought down the number of collision accidents – by 86 per cent in Lancashire and 78 per cent in West Yorkshire.
Speeding is one of the 'fatal five offences' he said – which also includes careless driving, drink and drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone while driving.
"Communities tell me again and again that they are fed up with seeing speeding drivers; it is shameful there are no cameras in North Yorkshire and that is why we are putting in £2 million to end that," he said.
Councillor Andy Brown (Aire Valley, Green), said he was pleased average speed cameras were coming, but added he had no idea how he could apply to ensure they were installed in his ward.
Cowling, where residents have been calling for fixed speed cameras for several years (Image: Google)
He told the Skipton and Ripon area committee meeting in Skipton: "In my community, Cowling, it is the biggest single issue that traffic comes every day and every night and once the mobile cameras go at night, there is no protection for people."
He added villages along the A65, Long Preston and Hellifield, were similarly impacted by the blight of heavy traffic and asked for reassurance that the amount of traffic be used to determine where cameras were installed, and not just because someone had been killed in an accident.
"I am really pleased that the decision has been made to have cameras, but I've not the faintest idea how to apply to get the cameras in my communities," he said.
Mr Skaith said locations would be a matter of the North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership – which is made up of North Yorkshire Council, the police, fire and rescue, City of York, Highways England, and the ambulance service.
He added that representatives of Cowling had spoken very passionately about the need for average speed cameras in the village.