Liberal Democrat councillors in Warndon Villages are urging immediate action to tackle dangerous speeding and street racing along the A4440 — and are warning that current plans to address these issues elsewhere on the road risk ignoring a community that is already suffering disruption, danger, and anti-social driving.
A meeting has been arranged to discuss road safety and speeding along the A4440 between Whittington and Powick, but councillors Sarah Murray and John Rudge have voiced frustration that the stretch through Warndon Villages — where these issues are already a major problem – has been left out.
Cllr Sarah Murray said:
“We’ve already brought a motion to City Council on the urgent need for stronger roads policing, and I’ve met with the Police and Crime Commissioner to press for more enforcement from West Mercia Police. Yet we’ve seen no real action taken to address the escalating issues in our area.”
Residents have reported street racers using Parsonage Way and other parts of the A4440 through Warndon Villages almost every night. The councillors warn that by focusing efforts solely on teh southern stretch of the A4440, current plans ignore the fact that these dangerous behaviours are already a persistent issue in their area.
“This isn’t a case of the problem moving into Warndon Villages – it’s already here,” said Cllr John Rudge. “By leaving our stretch out of the conversation, the County Council is ignoring residents who deal with this every night. We need a joined-up approach that tackles the whole road, not just parts of it.”
Cllr Murray added:
“Residents are rightly asking: what is actually being done to tackle this? We shouldn’t have to wait for a tragedy before something changes.”
The councillors are calling for Warndon Villages to be included in all future A4440 safety discussions and for West Mercia Police to prioritise enforcement in the area before lives are put at risk.
