Mon 28 Jun 2010
I was pleased to see this week that the CPRE are calling for action over the amount of man-made clutter in our countryside. Overhead wires, phone masts, advertising boards and pylons all all cited along with one blight which particularly annoys me – unnecessary road signs. We’ve all seen them… on my trip to work there are pairs of no-limit road signs, 40mph signs and 30mph signs all within a stretch of less than 200 yards. All can be viewed within the blink of an eye - a total waste of time and expense. The CPRE tell me that on the B3006 in the South Downs there are 300 signs on a seven-mile stretch – that’s almost 45 per mile. Ridiculous.
4 Responses to “Clutter in the countryside”
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July 4th, 2010 at 11:14 am
I wonder if that clutter includes man-made drystone walls and hedgerows, tarmac roads, cars…. In your trip to work aren’t you just adding to the clutter? I would say that any attempt to control the speed of traffic is vital, the fact that most drivers ignore such signs actually points to a lack of respect in our society.
July 13th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
I’m pleased to see someone else commenting; but it would have been more informative if Dave had stated his occupation - perhaps sign manufacturer or council worker trying to justify a job causing signs to be erected.A similar position exists around here with the speed limits going up and down with very little relevance to road conditions.The criteria for deciding on speed limits is 30 or 20 for villages and 40 or 50 elsewhere. So a straight road through a village with clear sight lines has a low limit whereas away from the villages there are hidden dips. bad bends and steep gradients with high limits. No wonder people ignore them. It’s the councils who show lack of respect for the society they work for, either through ignorance or selfishness trying to justify a job that would be better not done if it can’t be done correctly. ie. a short time spent with very little expenditure. Dave, look a little more closely; Your’e going after the wrong target.
July 18th, 2010 at 4:42 am
I work as a rural scientist and I drive to many rural areas within the southern UK. Living in a village with a B road and back lanes we have the constant blight of speeding traffic - signage actually is all we can do at present to try and put controls on speed. My point about respect is that because drivers do not respect rural communities there is ever more pressure to bring down speeds with more signs, flashing lights etc. - that is all we have to arm ourselves with. Our children have to walk to school along roads with no pavements where traffic often is doing 60mph + in 30/40mph zones, something that appears to be very unnacceptable in the local towns. The signs are the only obvious reference to drivers that they are entering a controlled zone for the safety of local residents regardless of whether the roads are straight or not. The signs try to help protect the rural community; they are not related to the conditions of the road but they help provide us with a legal framework where we can bring in other measures (speed cameras, better lighting, etc.). To be honest, the CPRE agenda appears to reflect the wishes of the urbanite to view our countryside as something stuck in the 19th century. Road signs, masts, pylons reflect man’s utilisation of the countryside as much as drystone walls, hedgerows, stone barns, windmills, fields etc. The enclosure of open lands with drystone walling in the Cotswolds was considered abhorrant by the rural population in the 18th and 19th centuries and we now have a rural community that looks at protecting red telephone boxes as part of the rural village landscape! I’m sure that in the next half decade the cheerful 30mph sign along with the telephone masts and pylons that brought so much joy and freedom to the countryside dweller will be regarded as something worth protecting!! Do the CPRE have a list of what is or isn’t regarded as clutter?
July 20th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
I think Dave and I agree that motorists ignore signs restricting speed limits and we both feel strongly about the danger caused by dangerous speeding drivers. Where we differ is the solution to the problem, and I admit that I have no answers; but I honestly feel that well intentioned but useless littering of signs do more harm than good. I said I have no solution to the problem, but I think the Spanish have a near perfect answer. They have signs depicting a speed limit to an approaching built up area. If you exceed the speed limit traffic lights in the village turn to red, and you are stuck at red lights with the liklihood of no other traffic around you. You feel a right pratt because you are stationary and on display to the laughing locals because you have exceeded the speed limit.Result: no speeding fines to inefficient councils trying to boost their revenues but huge embarrassment to the selfish driver whose pride makes him slow down when approaching the next village.