Agency and council work together on unlikely safety campaign

After numerous stories of councils and letting agencies at each others’ throats over To Let boards, Trading Standards and other controversies, here’s a story of a local authority and a branch office working together.

Stevens Estate Agents in the mid-Devon town of Okehampton has partnered with Sticklepath parish council to publicise its ‘20’s Plenty’ campaign for road safety. 

The village of Sticklepath sits on the northern edge of Dartmoor National Park and attracts walkers, cyclists and other visitors. With its primary school, village shop, village hall, children’s play area, recreation ground, pub and church, the small community is embracing the ‘20’s Plenty’ movement to reduce the speed of traffic on residential roads.

The parish council wanted an eye-catching and memorable way to promote the campaign to road users, so approached the agency to help get the message across to everyone who drives through and within the village in the form of large boards.

James Stevens, director of Stevens, says: “We’re really pleased to have been asked to help promote the speed reduction scheme in Sticklepath. The speed limit on the road through the village is actually 30mph, but it isn’t always adhered to. This limited timescale campaign is designed to grab drivers’ attention to get them to think about their speed. We’ve had a new board designed and made especially for the project – they’re different to our normal house-shaped boards but use the same colours incorporating the ‘20’s plenty’ logo.”

And the vice chair of the parish council, Derek Moore, adds: “We have already seen some change in driving behaviour through the village because of the signs, which are distinctive and different. We are grateful to Stevens’ for their support and for the impact they can have with this local safety campaign.”

Wales has already legislated for 20mph to become the national speed limit from September 17 this year and Scotland has a commitment to making 20mph the norm across all councils by 2025.