FEARS of pedestrians being harmed and desires to stop traffic from speeding have led to the formation of a new residents’ association in Launceston.

The St Stephens Residents’ Association is set to be officially launched at a public meeting tomorrow (Friday), at 7pm in St Stephens Church Hall.

The two founder members are local residents Val Bugden-Cawsey, and Barrie Boundy.

Mrs Bugden-Cawsey said: “From my perspective, having been a town councillor since January, and on a very steep learning curve, I’ve realised one person on their own — it’s very difficult to achieve anything.

“I have seen other residents’ associations, like Dunheved and Hurdon, have been able to achieve quite a lot as a collective. I know collectively a residents’ association is a very powerful thing and a lot can be achieved.”

She said people locally speak to her about the ‘serious issues’ they have with the St Stephens area of town, and it seems problems extend from the bottom of St Stephens Hill up to where the 30mph speed limit stops, across from Launceston Golf Club, where she said there are ‘awful problems with parking’, over to St Stephens School.

She added: “There is also some anti-social behaviour in some pockets.”

She said this led her on to thinking about forming a residents’ association.

Mr Boundy said: “I feel somebody is going to get seriously injured out here, and it’s no good shutting the door when the horse has gone. Something needs to be done before somebody gets hurt.”

He recounted a recent experience outside his home: “I went across to visit my son, and nearly got run over by a gentleman who must have been going through here at 60mph.”

He said while a lot of elderly residents may find it difficult to cross the road, younger people are also having difficulty, adding: “We have had an influx of young people with children, which is good because it brings a sense of community, but when you have got two 11-year-old children afraid to cross the road to go to St Joseph’s [School], there is something radically wrong.”

Mrs Bugden-Cawsey added: “Whether you are going to St Stephens [Academy] or St Joseph’s, you have to cross the road at somepoint.”

She said what she would also like to see in the near future is the extension of a 30mph limit into St Stephens on the road from Bude — the B3254, and a flashing sign nearby warning motorists when they are exceeding the speed limit.

She would also like motorists to pay attention to the one-way system at the top of St Stephens Hill.

Mrs Bugden-Cawsey said she understood the road leading up St Stephens Hill had been ‘derestricted’ to allow heavier vehicles to use it. She said one of the vehicles she has recently seen using that road is a 52-tonne lorry, adding: “They are absolutely massive. There’s no way they should be coming up that St Stephens Hill.”

She said she would like to see a weight restriction on that road, describing it as ‘a main thoroughfare and a very busy road to Bude’.

She added: “One of the problems is we live in a beautiful old Saxon town — the roads were never built for the volumes of traffic we see today.”

The expansion of businesses in the town and wider area has led to more heavy goods vehicles using the roads, and Mr Boundy added: “It’s good for the town that businesses are expanding but the roads can’t cope with it.”

The two founder members have got together a committee of ten people for the association’s first year, and every area in the residents’ association will be represented.

They said every house in the area has been flyered about the new residents’ association and the upcoming public meeting.

A noticeboard has been made and will soon be available to view at North Street green.

The residents’ association is free to join, and it is expected the association will hold one or two fundraising events a year.

Mrs Bugden-Cawsey said she expected to hear about other problems from residents at the upcoming public meeting, but said the new association would be taking ‘small steps’, adding: “Let’s try and do what we can to start with — let’s try and get done what we can achieve first.”

The first meeting after the public meting will be to prioritise the area’s issues, as Mrs Bugden-Cawsey added: “We won’t be able to do everything overnight.”

Before Christmas, they hope to have conducted a traffic census, with a view to eventually carrying out speed monitoring.