Following on from yesterday's update. This is what Gilly and I said at the New Forest District Council Meeting:

"Good Evening, Chairman, Councillors and members of the Public.
My name is Gilly Jones, and I am here today to present a petition to you signed by 3557 local people.

The Petition asked for that We the undersigned petition the council to add its support to calls for the introduction of an Average Speed Camera system on the B3078

This petition was started after the horrific spate of accidents involving commoners stock in December last year.

I am a practicing Commoner and the spokesperson for the social media group, New Forest Roads Awareness, I also sit on other panels, including the Animal Accident Reduction Group. I also work with Hampshire Police and do regular Community Speed Watch operations on the B3078.

Calls for average speed cameras are not new, Many organisations have worked with this as a goal for years, but now is the right time to ask all the stakeholders to work together to get that number of animal accidents reduced. Work done by the Animal Accident Reduction Group has already shown, that with collaboration, we are getting successful work done. The Commoners' Defence Association have done a massive amount of feasibility work for Average Speed Cameras and have found it is viable.

With the necessary building of new homes in the towns on the outskirts of the open Forest, I feel little has been done on how this increase in traffic will impact on the Forest. With planning applications for housing in Ringwood, Fordingbridge, Totton, Lymington and the huge Fawley waterside development, it is of course. going to increase the day to day use of Forest roads. Add to that the huge numbers of visitors coming every year to enjoy the area.

The Roger Penny Way has always been the worst road for animal road deaths with 30% of 2020 total deaths attributed to that road.. The cameras are the least invasive form of traffic management. Fencing would cost a fortune, cattle grids and underpasses would have to be installed and a huge amount of grazing would be lost, maintenance of verges and fencing would also become an ongoing cost. There is also a huge risk to the villages along the route, as they would be annexed from the visitors and locals.

Other traffic calming measures have been tried and removed as found unsafe.

Whilst speed is not the only reason for animal deaths, the speeds some feel they can drive on this road is just shocking. Police have given out tickets to drivers who cross that road at over 70mph, the highest we know of is 84 mph, this is often in the dark, when the risks are higher. One officer alone has handed out, at the time of writing this presentment 45 tickets this year. As much as they try, the pressure on the police means this road can only be monitored for a few hours at a time, but they are doing a great job, out day and night. We know in our speed watch operations, some vast speeds people go along that road. The Verderers fund the speed camera van when on the unfenced roads.

This blatant disregard of the speed limit must be dealt with before someone dies. We have to be seen to be proactive to this problem. Animals are not the only ones at risk due to these people, cyclists, dog walkers and other road users are now at as much risk as the free roaming stock. If every animal was a person, of course, something would have been done by now.

Anyone who has driven Hampshire’s and Dorset’s roads that are fitted with Average Speed Cameras will be aware that the huge majority of drivers to drive within the set speed limits. Static cameras would not work on this road, as some just slow down for the camera, then speed off. We now have to convince the Police and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones, to commit to the project, and give the backroom staffing to produce the tickets.

The death of a Commoners animal has a huge effect to many, not just the owner. The witnesses, the police and the Agisters all suffer. Sarah Weston, who has done a huge amount of work on this same issue following the death of her pony Juma, was responsible for getting a huge amount of local people to sign this petition, and has started an open petition. I would like to take this chance to thank Sarah for all her work.

I spent my New Years Day on the side of the Roger Penny Way, next to the corpses of 4 ponies, two of which were turned inside out, with the father of the Commoner, who owned the animals. The effect on them is huge. A young commoner, who is desperate to carry on the tradition of turning out Forest stock, and hand them on to her children. What shocked me most, and you can see if you watched the TV report, some people still just sped by, with a total lack of recognition of the scene.

Last month, another young commoner has lost a pony and sheep in a week, both hit and runs. Multiple death accidents seem to be becoming more common too.

The Forest stock are one of the main revenue streams for the Forest, they are why so many people come here. And we must do everything possible to protect not only the stock, but the people who live and work here.

I ask you all to please support in pushing to get average speed cameras on the Roger Penny way, and in the future, the other main roads within the New Forest."

Sarah Weston:

"My petition, which was open to all, has attracted 63,702 supporters, all of whom believe that Average Speed Cameras are necessary on the B3078, Roger Penny Way. Please add your support to our campaign.

I was advised that I should avoid talking to you in an emotional way, but I knew that I could rely on Gilly to give you the facts and figures, and it seems to me that we could perhaps all do with a dose of emotion because our animals are living, breathing, meaningful creatures with names and owners. They’re not just bits of street furniture that can be replaced or compensated for.

My own pony Juma, a four year old, was killed at dusk on the 7th August on Roger Penny Way at a speed that I am not allowed to mention until the court case is over. He had two completely broken legs, smashed teeth and internal injuries that meant – perhaps fortunately – that he died within five minutes of being hit.

After his death, I became aware through speed monitoring, that is not unusual for drivers to be speeding along this road, all day, every day, and at dawn, dusk and through the night when it is even more dangerous.
Our animals help to manage the forest and bring in millions of tourist pounds – they’re on every leaflet and every brochure – and yet they pay the price in horrendous injuries. Modern cars do modern speeds, they have modern lights and modern brakes, modern air bags and modern crumple zones, and yet our animals have nothing whatsoever to protect them.

Our animals must not be seen as just collateral damage in the management and enjoyment of the Forest while drivers play Russian Roulette, and more recently, skittles with their lives."

I have left the petition open for more signatures because I think it will be needed at many stages of this campaign. Funding for the feasibility study is still an issue - but not as much as it was and there are many doors that we still need to open. It was the two petitions that provided the key to the last two doors. I will let things run their course for a short while, but time is of the essence with the clocks about to change and the greater risk that that presents to the animals along this road. I hope that between them - Donna Jones, police and Crime Commissioner, the Verderers and the Commoners' Defence Association - they will get a move on. 

Photo: this seemingly beautiful scene takes your breath away for all of the wrong reasons. These three donkeys, presumably licking salt together at dawn, were all hit by the same vehicle. The driver maintained that he was not speeding and the police could not prove otherwise. (The driver may not have been speeding but was he driving within the conditions of the road? Too late now, there has been no prosecution)