Bird box stunt highlights A327 speeding concerns in Finchampstead

A FRUSTRATED Finchampstead resident built a bird box to help slow the traffic along his road.

Gareth Rees has been campaigning for road safety improvements for more than three years.

Last week, he built a speed camera-inspired bird box for his front garden, to raise awareness of the issue.

“It’s a nesting box for birds,” he said. “It just so happens to be the same colour as a speed camera.
“I think it raises awareness of the speeding issue,” he said. “Some neighbours seem to think it’s working.

“We had a staycation at home last week, and I didn’t hear any cars overtaking each other during the whole time.”

Mr Rees has since removed the box, following a report from a resident that the box was too convincing and caused a car to brake suddenly.

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“The last thing I ever wanted was to make our road less safe after campaigning for so many years to improve safety,” he said. “I did try and make it less convincing but clearly that was not the case — so it’s been removed.”

Mr Rees hopes the stunt will trigger action to tackle speeding and safety on the 40mph route.

“The speed of cars on the road has already returned, so maybe the council can consider a real one with appropriate warning signs like they have
on Barkham Road,” he said.

“I would just like them to deliver on some of the things they have promised,” he added. “The two speed indicator devices haven’t gone in yet, they were promised at Christmas.

“Six months is a long time. So many times WBC said it will do something, and nothing has happened. I’ve stopped chasing now as quite frankly, it’s pointless.”

Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways said the council installed a vehicle activated speed limit sign last autumn and cleared vegetation on paths earlier this year.

“We are also looking at a wider set of speed management recommendations, which include locations for additional signs, she said. “We will consult residents on the recommendations soon and we apologise for the length of time it has taken us to get these proposals in place.”

She added: “We are aware that some drivers exceed the speed limit on the road, but average traffic speeds continue to lie below the current 40mph speed limit. While the council can look at speed reduction measures and strategies, speed enforcement is the responsibility of Thames Valley Police.”

In October last year, Mr Rees built a computer bot that would Tweet when cars exceeded the speed limit.

He ran the system for six months, and collected data to prove his case about speeding along the road.

“If there was a speed camera there, it would have collected £5 million in fines,” he said.