Village speed summit kicks off review of limits

Some 56 per cent think that the majority of drivers ignore limits, while 89 per cent say that speeding is the greatest traffic headache faced in their communities.

The stark criticism of speeding motorists was revealed in a poll by the County Council of 64 villages throughout East Sussex.

The headline results were announced at a road safety summit attended by 50 of the county's parish and town councils.

The County Council has set aside 750,000 this financial year to look at speed limits in villages and the summit was held to start work with parish councils on a new policy for setting local speed limits.

Delegates were told that simply changing speed limit signs would not necessarily reduce speeds and that other measures such as vehicle activated signs, gateways and traffic-calming measures would also be required. It is hoped that over five years at least 30 villages could have their speed limits reduced from 40mph to 30mph.

After the meeting, conference chairman Councillor Matthew Lock, the Council's Lead Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, said: "Road safety is a very high priority for this County Council and we are allocating significant resources to reducing speeds in villages over the next five years. There are many residents in quiet communities whose lives are blighted because drivers pile past their homes at speeds that are simply too high.

"We are asking our partners in the parishes to tell us if they have problems with speeding so that their villages can be assessed and prioritised for work. But this is an enormous project over a number of years and we would ask residents to be patient. We will address speed limits in their communities eventually but we must look at the villages with the biggest problems first."

Delegates at the summit were given presentations by the County Council, Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire and Rescue and Ordnance Survey.

Topics included the Council's road safety initiatives, how the police enforce speed limits and how the Council can develop a policy on speed limits in villages.

Parish and town councils will now have four weeks to comment on what that policy should say. Aspects they will consider include the way the Council will prioritise villages for speed limit reviews, how villages will be defined and what sort of measures could be taken to educate drivers about limits.