Call for police to crackdown on speeding on strath’s high streets

Calls have been made for a clampdown on speeding on the high streets of villages and towns in the strath.

Local Highland councillor Bill Lobban said there was little to no enforcement to deter speeders on Aviemore’s Grampian Road and other high streets.

Local police chief Inspector Craig Johnstone acknowledged the problem when he appeared at the latest Highland Council Badenoch and Strathspey area committee meeting in Kingussie’s courthouse.

But he explained that the current road policing focus was on the A9 after the tragic summer of 2022 on the carriageway in the strath.

Councillor Lobban had told him: “The concerns from local people that my postbag is usually full of is speeding - not on the A9 but in local villages.

“Whilst the introduction of the 20mph limit has overall reduced the general speed of traffic going through our communities, there are still speeders.

“And there is almost no enforcement. In fact I would say there is no enforcement and I think that is completely wrong.

“Local people and their safety locally is the most important thing that matters to me.”

Inspector Johnstone responded: “I totally understand this. I live in Aviemore and I see this off-duty and I agree that speeding down Grampian Road is an issue.

“It has been decided that unless it is outside a school then road policing officers will be dedicated to targeting speeders at certain areas such as accident hotspots.

“I agree that there should be more focus on Grampian Road, the High Street in Grantown and High Street in Kingussie.

“But the decision has been made at a higher level that we need to reduce the number of fatalities on roads that has meant resources have been directed to specific areas on the A9 whether that be at the junctions at Granish, Ralia or elsewhere in our area.

“The fact is that we only have a set amount of resources and these have to be directed where the biggest risk is and unless that is a school then it has been decreed that the A9 is the most deserving.”

Inspector Johnstone said there were local police officers trained to use speed guns.

“When I have sufficient resources locally I will direct these officers to carry out speed checks in our areas,” he pledged.

“I try to do this but our resources are so thin on the ground that it is challenging and I am not going to lie about that.”

Mr Lobban summed up: “It is a safety measure that eventually has to be reintroduced - the routine policing of our towns and villages.

“I think it is really important and I think on the A9 instead of concentrating on some parts of the dual carriageway that have not seen an accident for the past 25 years maybe those junctions would be far better off with a highly marked speed control van parked nearby.

“I do not think they are very productive when you see them on a 70mph stretch of the A9 between the Slochd and Tomatin where accidents have been few and far between.”

The police chief said he would raise this point with the camera road safety unit in the region.

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