Speeding drivers caught in Silchester (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Does this actually achieve anything? Surely a volunteer measuring the speed of vehicles can't lead to police presecution.

I don't want to rain on their parade but can anyone explain in what way or whom has hailed this a success?

Ding, go to the Hampshire Police website to get the full information about this scheme and why the session in Silchester has been hailed as a success. You will find the following plus a lot of other details:
'SpeedWatch is a community scheme that can only take place in 20mph, 30mph and some 40 mph limits or zones.
The scheme will be managed by the police local Safer Neighbourhood teams but run by volunteers. Volunteers will use equipment that can monitor the speed of passing traffic and record the details, later adding them to a database. Vehicle checks will be undertaken by the police and letters will then be sent to the registered keepers advising them of the speed and reminding them of why it is a community concern.
SpeedWatch is not enforcement, it is education. It is important to know that SpeedWatch now forms part of our response to speeding issues. It is the first tier in our response to dealing with this problem. If a problem persists, we will escalate to tier two, meaning that enforcement can be undertaken by the police Safer Neighbourhood teams.'
So the scheme is primarily about education of drivers and empowerment of the affected community and if the problem persists the police may use a heavier hand. Also the police will run checks on every speeding vehicle and will certainly pick up some being driven illegally.

So pointless, surely in order to be educated you need to care? I suspect the majority who get this letter would most probably skim read, if they are not being fined this it will most probably be binned and forgotten about.
But if it makes these locals feel good about themselves then good for them
Oh and 18 years driving I have never had a speeding fine or a parking fine, so it's not ignorance it's just my perception of these people.
I am all for slowing cars down, but do it properly not using locals.

W Wallace says, 'I am all for slowing cars down, but do it properly not using locals.'
What is the proper way? If you mean all the other ways we have tried so far, then they have failed for several reasons: there are not enough police; fixed cameras can only be placed where certain previous accident criteria are met; limited resources; problem of identifying where to set up mobile cameras; in-car alerts of traps; etc.
This new scheme uses local knowledge to identify stretches of urban road where the residents regard speeding to be a problem. The locals then do the work of collecting the information and passing it on to the police. The drivers will see the equipment and a display of their speed. If they are speeding (at least 10% over the 20, 30 or 40mph limit) they can expect a letter. If they ignore this and keep on speeding the police will take action. Also if the locals' traffic survey shows that speeding is a big issue then the police can bring in their own speed traps. The worst that can happen is that the locals learn that the traffic is not as bad as they thought. This scheme has no downside.
It is a low cost attempt to reduce speed and has been shown to work in other parts of the country. And, just in case you still think people can ignore the letters forever, the first prosecutions of people who thought that have resulted.
So not pointless at all - in fact a good few points will end up on the licences of those who continue to ignore this low key, low cost, low impact, educational scheme.