New petition to slow traffic

Kingsclere woman in call to county council

A VILLAGER has started collecting signatures to present to Hampshire County Council about speeding and overtaking in Kingsclere.

Monica Lubbock-Smith started her campaign for traffic calming measures in Kingsclere following an accident involving her son in 1994 and this has escalated in recent months.

She said: “I and William Huntingdon have been working together on this campaign for some months.

“This was initiated because I was nearly run over last November by an overtaking car.

“However, I am not the only resident that has had near misses.

“I am still in the process of collecting signatures.

“We are hoping to present this to the parish council on June 24 when we are hoping the borough councillor Tom Thacker will be attending.

“The petition was initiated to attempt to generate local support and to make our local authority representatives take notice as we had not had any response from our emails alone.”

The current petition will try to focus pressure on Hampshire County Council to take action to calm speeding and overtaking on White Hill through Winchester Road and into Swan Street.

Kingsclere Parish Council chairman John Sawyer has offered his support for the petition.

He said: “As a parish council, it’s our job to be advocates for the village.

“Since last November we have been trying to get the county council to respond to a number of concerns and in truth they have and they will be reinstating bollards in Swan Street and repairing drains in Swan Street.

“They are also doing a study on Winchester Road towards White Hill.

“Most of us are concerned about this issue.

“However, we will need to see what the county council are willing to pay for.”

Mrs Lubbock-Smith said: “Unfortunately, there have been fatalities along this road.

“We would like to see double white lines to stop overtaking along Winchester Road and the speed limit extended.

“There needs to be some action on entering Swan Street as residents suffer from danger and abusive drivers.”

To sign the petition, copies have been left in The Village Butchers, Twist, Honesty Coffee Shop, Swan Street Stores and the Community Library.