Sir, – While Skeeby Parish Council and the majority of the village have welcomed the many pieces of advice published in the D&ST regarding the merits of the traffic calming measures in the village, it feels that it may help everyone in the formulation of any future advice if the full facts were at their disposal.

Going back to the early 1990s and probably beyond, there were numerous accidents in the village, predominantly caused by speeding cars at the bridge end of the village. It was following a fatal accident and another very serious one soon after that it was finally accepted that something needed to be done. The matter was discussed at parish council meetings and the police identified excessive speed as the problem and that some form of traffic calming measures were needed.

One of the paper's recent correspondents calls for "grown-up transparent, truthful and open discussions to be had between Skeeby villagers and officers from NYCC." Our somewhat maligned County Cllr Michael Heseltine called such a meeting on January 18, 2001 and it was attended by about 80 villagers as well as local councillors, police and council officers. All possible measures were discussed and the final decision referred to a meeting in Northallerton in July 2001. The decision was that speed bumps should be installed and this finally happened in February 2002.

A further open meeting was called by Cllr Heseltine on November 3, 2009 and again about 80 villagers attended. Minutes show that at least 20 were allowed to speak. Comments ranged from excessive noise caused by the bumps to uneven wear caused to car tyres. One person complained that the bumps made her journey longer!

All alternative traffic calming measures have been considered, including speed cameras, matrix boards, chicanes and a reduced speed limit (although the speed limit through the village was reduced from 40 to 30mph as one of the early attempts to reduce accidents). Matrix boards were requested in November 2013 and January 2014, but the requests were refused in March 2014.

The speed bumps, while not universally popular, have done the job they were designed to do. There have been no more serious accidents and traffic moves more slowly and carefully. When the village was flooded and the bumps removed because they had become unstable, NYCC conducted a speed check and noted that speed had "considerably increased" during this time and the speed bumps were replaced.

Cllr PAUL RUMMERY

Chairman, Skeeby Parish Council.