Milford Parish Council supports plans for 20mph speed restrictions on Manor Road and Barnes Lane

CALLS for new 20mph zones to be introduced along two Milford roads have been supported by the parish council.

A group of Barnes Lane and Manor Road residents recently attended a meeting of Milford Parish Council to ask for support in changing the speed limit ahead of a proposed development of 170 new homes being built at Swallowfield Park, on land north of Manor Road.

Local resident Gill Watson said: “Residents of Barnes Lane are increasingly concerned about the volume and speed of traffic. There have been many near misses – it doesn’t have a pavement and it is used by school children, the elderly and mobility scooters – but many drivers do not drive like it is a shared space.”

Adding that new development will add at least 400 additional car journeys to the narrow stretch of road, Mrs Watson warned the route to the village centre would become even more dangerous.

She said residents would like to see the speed limit along Barnes Lane and Manor Road reduced to 20mph following a community consultation.

Cllr Sue Pepper said: “The numbers of people with dogs and cyclists going along there is significant. It is an accident waiting to happen. The community as a whole knows this road is dangerous.”

The principal was also supported by Cllr Christine Hopkins, who said: “What is the price of a life? There are so many elderly along there and if anything terrible happened we would have to hang our heads in shame if we’d done nothing about it.”

However, parish clerk Graham Wells warned that there had been no accidents on the roads in the last 11 years and, therefore, it would be difficult to prove the road was dangerous. He added: “I’m not saying people don’t speed down there, but it is difficult to demonstrate.”

Under a new policy agreed in January 2024, Hampshire County Council allows parish and town councils, as well as other community groups, to request new 20mph speed limits and zones, subject to community support and certain criteria. However, Mr Wells warned the cost of the change would run to between £10,000 and £15,000 because of the traffic orders needed to facilitate it.

The parish council agreed to support the proposal to progress a 20mph speed limit in Barnes Lane and Manor Road.