News
Petition for 20 mph Speed Limits on Berkhamsted's Roads
Our petition of over 300 signatures has now been submitted to Herts County Council and our Chairman, Tim Vaughan, made a presentation to the Joint Members Panel on 12th January. The Councillor chairing the panel, Stuart Pile, expressed support and will refer it to the next Joint Members Panel (JMP) of Dacorum Borough Council (DBC) in 3 months time, when we can present the petition again and request funding. Herts Highways are now very constrained financially and currently have other high priority commitments (potholes, gritting!) Ian Reay, the County Councillor for Berkhamsted, also responded to say that extensions of the 20mph zones already existing are being considered within the draft new urban transport plan for Berkhamsted, although this would not be finished for several years. The chair of the JMP, Steve Holmes, has already indicated to Tim Vaughan that he is happy for this to be presented to the next meeting.
We are urging our local councillors to extend the 20 mph speed limits in Berkhamsted to cover all residential roads, and to implement this together with Herts Highways as soon as possible.
We believe this needs to be done as it will make our roads in the town much safer for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as motorists. It will also make our streets much more sociable environments as more people will use them for walking again, and children will be less at risk of accidents so it will be easier for them to play on the streets, or to cycle to school. As people get more confident in making short journeys into town on foot or by bicycle, it will reduce car traffic and so reduce pollution and noise. Fewer car journeys will also mean our town's CO2 emissions decline.
We are not demanding that controlled zones be introduced, with traffic humps and speed cameras, but for 20 mph signs to be put up in all residential roads. This could be done quickly and without great cost.
Many towns and cities across England have already done this - Portsmouth, Norwich, Oxford, Bristol and numerous London boroughs, and it has been very popular. They are supported by the Living Streets campaign (www.livingstreets.org.uk) and the 20's Plenty movement (www.20splentyforus.org.uk). The Government has recently come out in full support of reduced speed limits in towns : a paper issued in April 2009 by the Department of Transport said "we are proposing that... highway authorities... introduce 20 mph zones or limits into streets which are primarily residential in nature...".
You may have seen the article in the Berkhamsted and Tring Gazette of January 6th. Click on the hyperlink to read what they said.