A funding pot of £100,000 has been made available by the Vision Zero South West road safety partnership to fund road safety projects in communities across Devon and Cornwall – and you can help decide what they are.
The ‘Call For Ideas’ is looking for projects that require relatively small amounts of money but offer ‘big wins’ when it comes to preventing death and serious injury on our roads. Driving down serious collisions is something we simply can’t do without your help.
If your ideas include projects that are deliverable, cost effective and help improve road safety among our vulnerable road user groups – Young Drivers, Older Drivers, Cyclists, Motorcyclists, Pedestrians and Business Drivers – then we want to hear them.
Projects should be accurately costed and ideally also have the support of your local council, whether it’s parish, town, city, county or unitary.
You can submit your ideas on the Vision Zero South West website at https://visionzerosouthwest.co.uk/call-for-ideas/
Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, is also chairman of Vision Zero South West as well as the national APCC lead for road safety.
Commissioner Hernandez said: “Vision Zero South West has committed to reducing fatal and seriously injured casualties by 50% by 2030. We believe that no one should be injured as a consequence of using the roads in Devon and Cornwall – but we can’t achieve our collective goals without the help of local communities.
“We know road safety is a massive priority for people in Devon and Cornwall. In our recent road safety survey, more than 75% of those who responded said they witnessed road traffic offences on a daily or weekly basis and felt that more enforcement was needed.
“Communities know their roads better than anyone and residents are often best placed to offer expertise in solving problems that could reduce collisions.
“Quite often the solutions are relatively simple and don’t require much funding but make a huge difference to hundreds of people’s lives. We want to hear these ideas which as much background and evidence as possible to support them.”
Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Highway Management and Vice Chairman of Vision Zero South West, said: “This is a really good initiative and a great opportunity for communities to give us their ideas on how to make their roads safer.
“Using their local knowledge, I’ve no doubt many communities will have an affordable proposal that could make a big difference to their lives and save the lives of others.
“I hope that we can support these communities to ensure that this funding is directed to where it can have the biggest impact and we look forward to receiving their applications.”
You can submit your ideas on the Vision Zero South West website by visiting https://visionzerosouthwest.co.uk/call-for-ideas/
Entries close on November 1, 2021 and will be scrutinised by a panel of judges made up of road safety experts on the Vision Zero South West board. Successful applications will be announced on November 21.
