How much does it cost to design and build a speed hump? Habton Parish Council have been told the County Council charges £10,000 for each one! What a price for a neatly positioned tarmac coated object in the middle of the road!

Are our priorities right? We spend millions on setting up "Big Brother" by putting speed cameras on sparsely inhabited stretches of main roads in the open country, while neglecting the narrow country roads which pass through small villages with young famillies. There are enough speed cameras between Darlington and Scotland to frighten most motorists away onto the dualled A1 and A19, and then we wonder why these major traffic routes have become so congested! Oh yes: the speed cameras have brought the accident figures down on single-carriageway main roads - for the few people who still use them!

Most small villages, on the other hand, are lucky if they have a speed restriction sign. Now, perhaps we should mention the government's latest gimmick: councils are going to be allowed to reduce the speed limit to 20 mph in villages where there are no footways. Sounds good, doesn't it? So ask your local policeman how enforcible any village speed limit is, and you will be told there are not enough policemen for so many villages.

What happens when you ask the County Council for traffic calming measures for your village? Speed humps, rumble strips, or road constrictions? Well, you will be told that the County has a small budget and a plan. This is set out in the annual Transport Policies and Programme (TPP for short) - a document carefully prepared after extensive public consultation which has to be approved by Whitehall mandarins. Well, with each speed hump priced at £10,000 each, the budget is soon spent. The big County Council Departments will benefit most: so, if your village has a school, you're in with a good chance! Everyone else gets stonewalled by the bureaucracy.

We all know how hard up the County Council is: so don't expect a quick reply to your letter! You might have more luck if you can get your local County Councilor involved. Then the officials will refer to the statistics, and unfortunately, the fact that your village may be one where there is "an accident waiting to happen" will count for nothing until an accident does happen. A single fatal accident might make the village qualify for the waiting list. If you don't want to wait, your village can have a speed hump, provided the Parish Council pay half the cost - and few can. Then, at the end of the financial year, when the pressure is on to spend every last penny of the budget, speed humps spring up like mushrooms in all kinds of unexpected places - often where no-one wants them.

Something is clearly very wrong. There has to be a way of reducing the inflated cost. There must be a better system of prioritisation than waiting for accidents to happen. Every village with significant through traffic and a substantial number of children should qualify for at least two speed humps on the village approaches, at a price which the local community can afford.

NB Great Habton eventually obtained an estimate of £8,000 for putting speed humps and signs at both ends of the village