A WILSDEN businessman fears new traffic calming will force him to move out of the village.

Gary Winter claims the road humps along Wilsden’s main street will eventually damage every resident’s vehicle.

He said the 20mph measures are far more extensive than villagers realised when Bradford Council consulted them regarding the plans.

Mr Winter, of Briggland Court, said: “Nobody envisaged what it would be like, or the extent of it.

“I think the council has gone over the top. It’s knocking the heck out of the motors.

“It will eventually damage all the vehicles. I have a business in Cullingworth, so I’m back and forth all day.

“I would expect every house in Wilsden has been devalued. I wouldn’t buy a house in Wilsden anymore. If it carries on, I may move out of the village.”

Bradford Council contractors installed the traffic calming earlier this month to stop motorists driving as fast as 30mph through the built-up centre of Wilsden along Main Street.

The new measures include road humps, a 20mph zone and parking bans in parts of Main Street, Crack Lane and Lingfield Road.

There is also a new one-way system along Crack Lane to deal with traffic from 82 houses recently built in adjacent fields.

The council held a public consultation into the measures in 2014, and despite protests from almost 120 households, Shipley Area Committee pressed ahead with the the work.

Mr Winter, who drives a Fiat Panda, accepted that traffic calming would be useful close to the pedestrian crossing in Main Street, but not along the entire length.

He added: “People didn’t go fast in Wilsden because it’s too built-up. There might have been a few drivers but not enough to justify this.

“I think they used to go fast on the stretch of the village towards Harden.”

The traffic calming measures were this week reluctantly defended by ward councillor Mike Ellis.

He said residents and parish councillors had requested measures to slow down traffic and make it safer for other road users and pedestrians, including schoolchildren.

He added: “It’s a sad reflection that people will not keep to the speed limit unless they are physically forced to do so. I hate speed bumps as much as anyone but, sadly, this is the only way to slow drivers down.”

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