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Catch the speeders

So Angus Macpherson wants to know if you’ll cough up some more money for his beleaguered police service (Adver 20th Jan). Putting aside the feeling it may be a PR exercise in front of a decision already made, there is always the alternative of saving cost.

On average there are two damage accidents every month on Thamesdown Drive, as a result invariably of people ignoring red traffic lights, excess speed or both. So far there have only been two deaths (yes, only) but all of these smashes call on police resources. Some also call out scarce NHS resources whilst most just escape with monster insurance claims.

We residents watch a minority of drivers, treat red traffic lights as optional on a daily basis, yet just £10,000 will install one high tech, fully automated red light and speed camera.

All credit to the much maligned Dale Heenan, for budgeting £180,000 from developer contributions (later revised down to £130,000) but since he departed the Highways brief, the Borough Council seems intent on frittering this money away.

Angus has stated in writing “to have such cameras directed at red light and speeding offences would be the goal” but again these seem to be just words as he told me in December that he won’t get involved because Swindon Borough Council won’t help and the fine income goes to Government - a classic political stand-off.

He seems to prefer instead to employ scarce police and NHS resources to incessantly ‘pick up the pieces’ and at the same time, happily ignore his prime responsibility for public safety.

It’s dead simple: cross a red light or exceed 40 miles an hour and expect three points and a £60 fine to drop through your letterbox the next week… and just watch the driver behaviour calm down.

Isn’t it time, in 2018, that Mr Macpherson and Swindon Borough Council woke up to the use of technology rather than having police units regularly racing across to North Swindon to sort out the carnage?

JOHN STOOKE, Haydon End, Swindon

EU destroyed Carillion

Carillion was one of the biggest construction companies in Britain but it went bust.

What dragged this mighty company down was the massive losses made on three British government building contracts that went vastly over budget. The three contracts were the Aberdeen bypass, a Liverpool hospital and a Manchester hospital.

EU Law demands that all government contracts are put out to EU wide tenders and the government is obliged to accept the lowest tender.

This forced Carillion to make tenders on a tight budget that left no safety margin in case things went wrong.

It was this compulsory EU wide tendering system that destroyed Carillion when these three massive building projects went over budget by well over a billion pounds.

STEVE HALDEN, Beaufort Green, Swindon