72% of Britain support 20 mph limits

The 2012 British Social Attitudes Survey results have just been published. The results show 72% in favour of 20 mph limits with just 11% against. Women favour 20 mph speed limits more at 76% then men at 68%. The full report can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/209890/bsa-2012.pdf.
Page 21 also shows peoples attitudes to speed bumps and closing residential streets.

Barwell SUE update

The Barwell SUE has been granted outline planning permission which included access and highway arrangements. Part of the submission was a late analysis by Highways which predicted data flows through the village using their LLITM model.

Unfortunately their report did not contain readable traffic flow volumes so I subsequently asked for this information which they supplied in tabular form. I superimposed this data onto a local map (see below) together with the actual flows (in green) that we recorded when we audited traffic in the village in February 2013. There are two sets of predicted data flows from the LLITM model
"with mitigation" this means the (yet unspecified) changes to the main road network. i.e. the Rouges Lane, A47 and A5 junctions
"unmitigated" this means without changes to the main highway network

Highways conclusion is that there will be very little additional traffic along the rural network, hence they see no need to consider local rural mitigation. We have to first convince them that the model is wrong and / or convince them that there are not viable solutions to the Rogues Lane and A47 junctions.

There has subsequently been a meeting of the joint parish councils to discuss the issue of Barwell SUE traffic. At this meeting Ivan Ould (County Councillor) was tasked to talk to Highways. Ivan is currently trying to set up this meeting.

Streets4All Stoke Golding Traffic Survey Results

Thank you to everybody who recently took part of the Stoke Golding traffic perceptions survey. It has taken a while longer than we hoped to publish the results and because of the issue around the solar farm we have deferred meeting the Parish Council until 9th Jan 2013. We will report the outcome of this meeting in a future blog post. But on to the results of the survey ...

A random sample of Stoke Golding residents were asked whether they strongly agreed, agreed, were neutral , disagreed or strongly disagreed with the following statements:

1. I support the vision for Stoke Golding streets

2. Traffic volume is an issue within the village

3. Traffic speed is an issue within the village

4. I support the introduction of a 20 mph speed limit throughout the village

Our Vision

We have a vision of people friendly streets which are attractive and where young and old feel safe; where drivers behave responsibly and where people are happy to walk and cycle. We want our streets to be alive and vibrant where people can live and socialise.

We had a fantastic response. 150 households were surveyed and we achieved returns from 124 households (83% response rate) and 209 residents. Statistically this ensures that the results are representative of all residents plus or minus 5%. We would like to thank residents for taking the time to complete the survey and for both their written and verbal comments.

The results are compelling. The graph opposite shows the count of how residents responded to each statement. The standout is how strongly residents identified speed as an issue and supported both the vision and the introduction of 20 mph limits. There is still significant concern over traffic volume, but this is clearly considered a lesser issue than speed.

The counts were translated into agree, neutral and disagree percentages and are shown in the table below.

Statement	agree	neutral	disagree
1. Vision	77%	16%	7%
2. Volume	60%	19%	22%
3. Speed	76%	12%	12%
4. 20 mph	67%	11%	22%

So the residents of Stoke Golding have had their say and have told us loud and clear that speed is a significant issue and they want vehicles to drive more slowly, specifically at no more than 20 mph. We must respond to that mandate. Specifically we intend to push forward for the introduction of a village wide "sign only" 20 mph limit. The next step is to get the support of the Parish Council.

Watch this space for developments ...

Parish Council give their support for 20mph survey

We went along to the October Parish Council to discuss our plans to survey the village regarding support for 20 mph speed limits. We are pleased to say that we left with support for the process and an undertaking to take on board the views that are expressed by residents.

We are finalising the survey now. Our plan is to distribute these wc 29th October and collect responses door to door the 2 weeks commencing 5th November. So hopefully we will have results to publish towards the end of November 2012.