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TRANSPORT & HIGHWAYS
Although many households (84%) have at least 1 vehicle, some households (16%) have no car. A significant minority of people (164, 39%) experience transport difficulties getting to or out of Bampton, and of these, 1 in 5 often has problems.
According to MDDC’s recent report on Rural Settlements, Bampton has 3 scheduled bus services and 10 is the most of any rural settlement in Mid Devon.
‘More frequent bus service particularly at evenings and weekends’
The bus service is considered to be important or essential by many (70%) of the 201 respondents who use it. The standard of bus services is rated good or reasonable in terms of: route (86%) reliability (76%), cost (70%), and timetable (60%). The bus service is mainly used for shopping and social and leisure trips. Some people use it for medical visits or travel to work, school or college. A minority use it if the car is unavailable.
131 people (35%) would use a voluntary car service if it were available, and 36 respondents with a car would be prepared to help provide such a service.
Just under half of all respondents (49%) are satisfied with the general maintenance of the roads in Bampton. The area of principal discontent seems to be the actual road surface within the town centre. Specific items of concern are sunken drain covers, gully crossings and uneven pavements, primarily in Brook Street, where the road and pavement levels are often incompatible with the stream. People also mentioned potholes, the poor state of the main Bampton - Tiverton road and other roads to outlying villages.
With regard to safety, many people (80%) consider verge and hedge maintenance is good or reasonable and the majority (72%) think that road sign warnings are adequate, although some white line markings on roads need re-painting.
Few people (29%) would like to see more street lighting in Bampton, but a majority (66%) think there should be a vehicle weight restriction on the roads through the town.
160 people (42%) wanted to see the speed limit area in Bampton extended but speeding traffic was seen as a problem by more than half (57%) of all respondents.
‘Don’t use ugly signs to slow traffic, use calming ridges, as in France’
‘We should have NO cheap, tacky lines of any colour, or lumps’
A recent survey by the Council for the Protection of Rural England has shown that half of those living in rural areas feel threatened by fast moving traffic. Drivers who exceed the speed limit put pedestrians at greater risk in the event of an accident. Research has shown that a car driven at 35 mph is twice as likely to kill a pedestrian as one driven at 30 mph. A lot of people (74%) think there are "danger-spots" on the roads in Bampton. Almost every road is mentioned, but the prime area for concern is Newton Square and all the roads leading to it from every direction. Inconsiderate parking, particularly illegal parking on pavements, delivery vehicles in Brook Street and outside the Spar shop in Newton Square, vehicles performing U-turns at the Briton Street/Tiverton Road junction (the Toll House) were all mentioned.
Cars parked on the road in Castle Street and double parking in Brook Street add to the congestion but some people take the view that this forces traffic to slow down and even has a calming effect.
‘Please don’t restrict parking in Brook St. we need easy access to shops’
The proximity of the children’s playground to the industrial estate makes this area increasingly hazardous and clear warning signs are needed to alert drivers to the need for extra care. A child who is knocked down by a vehicle driven at 30 mph is likely to be killed. If the vehicle is travelling at 20 mph the child is likely to survive.
In spite of all these difficulties, most people (85%) rate facilities for pedestrians in Bampton as good or reasonable.
1 in 6 vehicles are parked on the road. However, only 17% think that Bampton needs an additional car park.