Villagers in Roseisle have voiced their concerns over road safety – after two cars ploughed through residents’ gardens.
Locals say not only are they are frightened by the speed of cars racing through the Moray village, but by the number of lorries visiting the nearby Diageo Roseisle Maltings and distillery, and those at the Defco pumping station.
They are now demanding a stop sign, which was taken away almost a decade ago, is reinstated and that a reduction to the 50mph speed limit is brought into force by the local authority.
They raised the issue with Moray MP Douglas Ross, who held a surgery to hear concerns.
Last year, a woman was charged with a road traffic offence after a car and tractor collided near Roseisle.
In 2020, two people were taken to hospital after a two-car collision near the Roseisle distillery on the B9089.
Police carried out speed checks at Roseisle this week with “several” drivers spoken to by officers.
‘Likelihood of accident increasing by the day’
Moray MP Douglas Ross held a meeting to discuss these events and how they can make the roads safer for everyone.
He said: “This was a positive and constructive meeting to discuss speeding and road safety issues in Roseisle.
“I was determined to ensure this meeting took place after several residents voiced their concerns to me about this during my summer surgery tour.
“I was pleased that most of the key stakeholders were able to make it along and hear directly from residents who are being affected by speeding motorists and general traffic issues on a daily basis.
“It is clear that action and major safety improvements are needed as a matter of urgency.
“We cannot see situations continuing to occur when cars have ended up in people’s gardens and the likelihood of an accident involving a pedestrian is only increasing by the day.”
‘More mindful of their speed’
Mr Ross will now work alongside council representatives to discuss whether there can be a further reduction in the speed limit to 40 or 30mph.
“There were a lot of issues to take forward from this meeting, but I believe that by working together we can ensure that residents of Roseisle will feel safer in the village and everyone driving through will be much more mindful of their speed.
Officers from Team 2 in Forres carried out speed checks at Roseisle.
Several drivers were educated whilst several others were offered conditional offers for excessive speed. #OpCedar #WatchYourSpeed#SlowDownInTown pic.twitter.com/1AnCGHUMv6
— Moray Police (@MorayPolice) October 11, 2022
“I hope to receive responses as quickly as possible as there were a number of actions from the meeting, and I will feed these back to villagers who have lived with these issues for far too long,” he added.
A Moray Council spokeswoman said: “We can confirm officers are working with partner agencies to ensure the safety of residents and road users in Roseisle.”
A Diageo spokeswoman added: “A representative attended the local community meeting to hear the concerns relating to road safety in the village from all vehicles within the area.
“Diageo is committed to working in partnership with Moray Council, who have responsibility for roads in the area, to support improvement measures.”
Conversation