A Bedford Borough Council public report has revealed that a dozen average speed cameras are currently not working, prompting concerns from councillors that the disclosure could lead to speeding.
The report, presented to last week’s (5 June) Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee, said these cameras rely on the now-defunct 3G network and have been out of action.
The non-functioning cameras are due to be replaced with updated 4G models by August 2025.
Andrew Prigmore, manager for traffic operations, said some of these sites went live in 2013. “As time has progressed camera technology has advanced,” he said.
“Telecom companies have been switching off the 3G network across the country which means that [these] cameras cannot transmit data back to the office for processing.
“It does mean that these cameras are no longer in use and it hasn’t been possible just to change their SIM cards,” he added.
Cllr Jon Abbott (Lib Dem, Clapham and Oakley) questioned the inclusion of the list in the public report.
“Any resident who didn’t know these average speed cameras weren’t working now knows exactly where they are,” he said. “That does concern me in my village, because none of our sites are currently active.”
“[Residents can] look at this report now to know which ones aren’t working, which does concern me, none of my [home] village is covered currently,” he said.
Cllr Dylan Simmons (Conservative, Bromham) added: “Previously, this has been quite a closely guarded secret for exactly the reason I think councillor Abbott alluded to.
“People who do read these reports will then be able to work out that they don’t have to follow any speed limits and they can speed as much as they want,” he said.
Accountability
But cllr Charles Royden (Lib Dems, Brickhill) welcomed the transparency, arguing that knowing which sites are down helps maintain accountability.
“There is a benefit in knowing which sites aren’t working because in your report, you talk about a lack of funding being allocated towards the maintenance,” he said.
The report said each site costs £5,000 a year to maintain.
“If we don’t know that they’re not working, then we could end up with our cameras just not working by default and the whole system just falling into disrepute, and I certainly don’t want that.”
Mr Prigmore, defended the publication of the list, saying it was information that could be obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests anyway.
Cllr Abbott did have a warning for drivers looking at the list, as the report said the upgrade would be completed by the end of August.
“There’s nothing to say we aren’t replacing these now, so you do need to be careful anyway because they may have been reinstated already,” he said.
“I know we’re out there changing them right now,” he said.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
