Executive Summary

For Project EDWARD, the Vision Zero Partnership undertook to trial the delivery of a Surround a Town event in the city of Ely, in East Cambridgeshire. The event included a concentrated, visible enforcement presence in and around the city, combined with engagement and information activities on Ely Market Place, child car seat and tyre checks at Sainsbury’s Ely, and education activity in local schools. In total, approximately 60 staff and volunteers were involved in running the event on the day.

Outcomes from the day showed it was a huge success, both in raising the profile of the partnership – with over 97k online impressions and nearly 1000 local school pupils engaged – and in road safety outcomes – with 27 hours of visible speed enforcement resulting in 117 offences, and more than 40 vehicles being checked either by police or a local technician.

The intensive resource requirements to put on an event of this size make it difficult for the partnership to deliver more than 2-3 events of this type per year, also recognising that weather will be an important factor in engagement so more appropriate for them to be focused on the April – September timeframe. However, this does not preclude smaller events to take place more regularly, particularly with the establishment of the Safer Speeds Special Constabulary team.

It is suggested that the partnership should aim for a minimum of six events per year (one in each district across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough) with at least two of these on a large scale, as was the case for Project EDWARD.