St Ives Town Council says it will not consider a new speed reduction scheme being proposed for the town because of concerns that it could damage cars.

St Ives Town Council says it will not consider a new speed reduction scheme being proposed for the town because of concerns that it could damage cars.

Originally put forward by the council as part of the Local Highways Improvement Initative, plans have been re-worked by Cambridgeshire County Council and now suggest not only changing the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph along Hill Rise and Marley Road, but to also introduce traffic calming measures to help enforce it.

Town councillors, however, have resisted the proposal – which could cost up to £50,000 – saying the speed cushions are unnecessary and that changing the speed limit and traffic regulations would be enough.

“It’s using a sledgehammer to crack a nut,” Councillor Ryan Fuller told the council chamber on September 14.

“The whole purpose of that road is to take traffic away from coming through the town centre. If we put 12 pairs of speed bumps down there, it’s going to direct traffic that does use that road all the way through the town centre. It’s a ludicrous idea, I don’t know what the county council are thinking of, and I think we should strongly resist this.”

Other councillors said speed bumps can damage cars and that some can even cause more problems.

Deputy mayor, Councillor Philip Pope, said: “The majority of cars, if you angle it right, will travel over the speed bump regardless of their speed and, unfortunately, that just becomes another thing for the younger generation to aim to do and get over them in their car at the right angle.”

After a majority voting in favour of the proposal, the council decided to resist the scheme.