Cutting speed in villages (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Cutting speed in villages

8:16pm Thursday 18th September 2008 in

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CUT your speed to 30 miles an hour in Hampshire villages - that's the message being driven home to motorists by the county council's Choose 30' initiative launched on Wednesday, September 17.

Hampshire County Council's executive member for environment, Councillor Mel Kendal, unveiled Corhampton's new 30 mph speed limit signs with help from children from Meonstoke Church of England Primary Infant School who were on hand to highlight the importance of the Choose 30 message.

The Choose 30 campaign coincides with the introduction of the first wave of Village 30' - an ongoing programme to reduce speed limits in all Hampshire villages to 30mph.

Reducing the former 40mph speed limit in Corhampton marks the move to new 30mph limits in a total of 43 villages across Hampshire this Autumn.

A further 61 villages will see their speed limits cut to 30 mph in the second wave of the initiative, due to be introduced in Spring 2009.

Councillor Kendal said: "This is a real change for the better.

"The introduction of 30 mile an hour speed limits in all our villages should bring huge benefits to rural communities - being able to get around your village freely and safely is an important part of village life. In some villages we have unacceptable situations where a busy road literally cuts one side off from the other!

"Our aim through the Choose 30 campaign - as well as the Village' 30 project - is to get motorists to moderate their driving, respect the speed limit and be more aware of the village communities they are passing through. Put simply, the initiative is about reducing speeds not punishing drivers.

Reducing speeds in rural villages can significantly improve people's quality of life and for many years parishes have been asking the County Council to bring in additional 30mph limits. Revised Department for Transport guidance (issued in January 2006) also recommends that villages should have comparable speed limits to similar roads in urban areas' and that a 30mph limit should be the norm in villages'.

The first round of villages (September - December 2008) include: Ampfield, Hook Road/Hursley Road & Ampfield 3090, Littleton, Lower Wield, Braishfield, Colden Common, Old Alresford, Corhampton, Soberton & Newtown, Fair Oak and Horton Heath, Upper Wield, Headbourne Worthy, and Itchen Abbas.

*What do you think of the speed limits? Add your comments below.