Action group calls for halt to speed bumps in Ickleford on health grounds

AN action group is calling for a last minute halt to road works citing a report that highlights the health implications of speed humps for the elderly.

The No Humps group which is campaigning against the installation of traffic calming measures by Herts County Council in Ickleford, due to be completed next week, say speed humps will cause elderly villagers pain and risk injury.

Activist Adrian Johnson said a report commissioned by the Department of Transport in 2004 on the impact of road humps on vehicles and their occupants showed the scheme was unsuitable for the village.

He said: "This report confirms our concerns about the damage road humps can do to occupants with existing back problems - causing unnecessary pain and risking further injuries.

"There are a significant number of elderly and infirm within Ickleford and we already know of several residents with these types of conditions who will be greatly affected by this scheme. For some this will restrict their mobility, for others they will have to seek alternative much longer routes, increasing costs and pollution."

The group has sent a copy of the report to county hall, with the backing of 619 villagers opposed to the scheme, requesting a delay in the �155,000 works until a full investigation has been carried out.

A spokesman for HCC said: "We would like to reassure residents that throughout the planning, design and construction stages we have, and are following, all the latest Department for Transport guidelines to the letter.

"The scheme is designed to address the issue of vehicles speeding through the village. There have been various windows of public consultation including the Ickleford Parish Council survey, the public meeting and exhibition held at the village hall in October 2008, the formal public consultation of April 2009 where drawings and letters were sent to residents and also the legal Traffic Regulation Order process of June and July 2009.