Proposed 20mph limit in Woolton Hill rejected in poll
Majority favour retaining 30mph limit past village schools
PLANS for a 20mph speed limit past two schools in Woolton Hill have been rejected after a majority of parishioners voted against the proposals in a recent online poll.
The result of the poll emerged at a recent East Woodhay parish council meeting, where it was revealed 252 people had voted against and 225 for a proposed 20mph speed limit, aimed at halving the current 30mph limit past St Thomas’ infants and Woolton Hill junior schools.
This was despite findings by the parish speedwatch team that showed 20 per cent of vehicles passing the schools had been found to be in excess of the 30mph limit.
Clerk Sadie Owen said: “On any given day you could say 100 people were speeding.”
A discussion on alternative methods of raising drivers’ awareness of their speeds ensued, with suggestions including attaching machinery to posts to record speeds of passing vehicles and handing the resulting information to police.
Mrs Owen said: “It [the machinery] doesn’t record number plates, but it does record all the speeding vehicles.”
Councillors pointed out the results of the online poll may have been skewed, after it had been extended to include the votes of parents with children at the schools who lived outside the parish, including in neighbouring Highclere and further afield.
In view of this, councillors decided not to rule out the possibility of a further, similar, survey in the parish, to include the votes of members of various East Woodhay organisations, such as the garden club and East Woodhay Society.
The parish council also voted in favour of an advisory 20mph speed limit outside the schools and in-between the warning lights which flash during school hours.