Families in 'Stonehenge' village say it is a speeding death trap as World Heritage rules means safety signs are frowned upon

Daily Mail​

6 days ago

Families in a 'Stonehenge' village say it is a 'death trap' where cars keep crashing because World Heritage rules are restricting signs in order to preserve its picturesque landscape.
Residents in Avebury say the spate of accidents - including three deaths in two years - is because of a lack of signage.
Officials try to minimize the number and size of road signs in 'areas of special landscape value' because they can detract from natural beauty and character.
And locals say because of its heritage status they have the 'bare minimum' number of road and speed signs - which is leading to accidents.
The Wiltshire village has a Neolithic henge monument and is one of the best-known prehistoric sites in Britain - and recently voted the most picturesque.
It contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world and is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to modern pagans - while Stonehenge is a more famous and architecturally sophisticated stone circle.
But residents want to reduce speeding or increase signage following recent crashes on the A4361 which runs through it.
Dubbed a 'death-trap' by some, cyclists have lost their lives on the road and just last month three cars were left badly damaged after a crash.
Wiltshire Council said it conducted a speed limit review in 2019 and reduced the limit outside Avebury to 50mph.
Following the review, the decision was made to keep the speed limit within the village at 30mph.
But residents say they are 'scared' over traffic as it is 'waiting for a tragedy to happen'.
They say one of the problems is because it is protected the number and size of speeding signs is restricted.
Mike Daniel, who runs a bed and breakfast on the road, said there's people speeding, overtaking and going too fast but 'no safety measures' are in place.
He said: 'Because it is a World Heritage Site they have tried to limit the signage - but safety has to come before that.
'The road signs are the bare minimum which means there is little warning of speed, hazards, bends, people crossing, please drive carefully signs.
'The National Trust don't like signage for obvious aesthetic reasons but safety of people is coming second.
'They should make it a 20mph limit through the village and they should extend the 30mph limit further up the road so it covers more houses.
'They should implement double white lines in the middle of the road to prevent people from overtaking which would reduce the speed.'
Mike added that the issue is not on the visitors and tourists but on the commuters who are using the A4361 as a 'thoroughfare to their work'.
The crash in June involving three cars was right outside his house and his B&B.
A telegraph pole was damaged in the crash, leaving local properties without phone lines or broadband for 10 days.
Local Moya Hampson's son was run over by a tractor on the A4361 on his way to the school bus in 2017 when he was then 15.
The impact left him with several broken limbs.
She said the 30mph limit was not enough to protect pedestrians, especially as there was very limited signage in the village because it was a World Heritage Site.
She added that if there is a sign anywhere foliage will grow over it and will not be cleaned.
Mrs Hampson said: 'It is stones over human lives. I don't feel that they see us as an importance probably more of as an inconvenience.'
She said it is 'dangerous' to walk into the village and pull in and out of her drive.
'In the past two years there has been three deaths within the Avebury complex.
'Tourists are walking on the side of the road, they are in the road way, there is no footpath there and they will get run over and people will continue to have lots of accidents on the road and hopefully there won't be too many that die.'
Mrs Hampson alongside Mr Daniel have now created a petition pleading for safer roads in Avebury.
The petition calls the heritage site a 'dangerous hot spot' where residents and tourists' lives 'are in danger'.
Avebury, including the stone circles, is primarily managed by the National Trust.
Andrea Greig, 63, is a retiree who has lived in Avebury for eight years.
She said: 'All of us here are worried about accidents and safety, it's a retirement park. We are all older and no one can get out of the way quickly.
'There's not enough speed limit signs. That's the National Trust. They don't want too much signage around the place but it needs it.'
Lynn White, a retiree, 66, has lived in Avebury for 10 years.
'Nobody takes any notice of the 30mph sign. It's very fast the vehicles that go by, even when they see it. And there's not enough of them.
'There's been a few accidents on the corner. It's pretty awful. At night you can be laid in bed and hear them zooming by.'
Steve Palmer, 61, has lived in Avebury for seven years.
He said: 'There was a pile up last week, three cars, last week. There's been a guy killed on the road going to Swindon. Too many accidents.
'We don't want deaths. Put the signage in and there won't be any deaths.'
Alice Macaire, 59, a charity worker, said: 'I don't want another death. I think the deaths are pointless because it doesn't have to be like this.'
Cllr Martin Smith, Cabinet Member for Highways, said: 'We conducted a speed limit review along the A4361 from Beckhampton to the county boundary in 2019.
'As a result, the speed limit through Avebury village remains at 30mph, while the limit outside the village was reduced from the national speed limit to 50mph.
'We understand that some residents have formed an unofficial group to raise concerns. We encourage those concerned to contact their local Parish Council. As we work with those who have been elected to represent the community.'
A National Trust spokesperson said: 'The safety of local residents and visitors at Avebury has always been a priority for us.
'The National Trust has not been formally consulted on any changes to traffic management in and around Avebury, nor do we have the authority to implement or block new measures that the relevant authorities may introduce.
'We would of course fully engage with any formal consultation along with our partners in the World Heritage Site.'