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Agenda item
Motion (Rule 14)
Councillor Jobson to propose:
Hastings suffers from far too many speeding drivers, many of whom use short cuts through residential areas. There have been two deaths on our streets in the first half of 2022. To address this situation, Hastings Borough Council calls for the introduction of a 20 mph speed limit in residential areas of Hastings & St Leonards.
This idea is rapidly gaining ground across the UK: nearly 600 towns and cities – about 28 million people – now benefit from the safety and better air quality resulting from this lower speed limit. Wales has just introduced a 20 mph limit on urban and residential roads, which comes into force in 2023.
There are so many benefits to reducing speed limits. An area-wide limit makes it easier and safer to choose walking and cycling over car journeys for local trips. The significant reductions in air and noise pollution have a positive impact on physical health, including reductions in heart and lung disease. 20mph speed limits help create better-connected, safer, living communities, with higher air quality. Fewer road accidents, increased exercise, less fear and loneliness, and better-quality sleep from reduced noise levels all improve mental health.
Here are some of the specific benefits of a 20 mph limit:
- Lower carbon emissions: CO2 falls by an average of 26%.
- Nitrous oxide, NOx, falls by an average of 28%.
- Traffic noise falls by up to 50%.
- Greater child safety, making it more possible for children to walk to school.
- Fewer casualties. Evidence from Bristol, Edinburgh, Calderdale, Brighton and others shows how 20mph reduces casualties, saving police and NHS costs. A 1mph reduction in speed on an urban road reduces casualties on average by a whopping 6%.
- Most drivers obey the new speed limit without traffic calming measures. Speed limiters on new cars from 2022 will help.
- 20 mph reduces stop-start driving habits. Less accelerating / braking reduces brake and tyre particulates.
- It’s excellent value for money. Doing nothing costs more!
- Businesses thrive where it is safe to walk and cycle.
- A 20 mph
limit makes no significant difference to bus journeys across town.
Many bus companies have found no difference in their
timetables.
The biggest benefit, however, is much simpler, but harder to measure: an increase in well-being. Communities thrive if there is less danger and less noise, creating a stronger sense of place.
Hastings Borough Council wants these benefits for our citizens.
We note that East Sussex County Council has repeatedly rejected motions calling for default 20 mph speeds on all residential streets. However, the County Council has agreed to consider a default 20 mph limit as part of developing Local Transport Plan 4. The Leader of Hastings Council will write to the Leader of East Sussex County Council and the Lead Member for Transport and Environment to call upon East Sussex County Council to make that commitment and invite them to work with us to implement a 20 mph limit on residential roads in Hastings and St Leonards. This should sit within a wider commitment to a Vision Zero approach to road safety, which aims at zero deaths or serious injuries on our roads and has already been adopted by both West Sussex and Kent County Councils.
We call upon the Leader of the Council to write to East Sussex County Council to ask them to set the process of implementing a 20 mph limit in Hastings and St Leonards in motion, working with police and ward councillors to identify all appropriate roads. We also ask all councillors on Hastings Borough Council for their active support for the 20’s Plenty campaign, so we can build a town wide coalition to support this campaign.
Minutes:
Councillor Jobson proposed a motion as set out in the agenda, seconded by Councillor Batsford.
RESOLVED (by 21 votes for, to 5 against) that Full Council accepts the motion as set out below:
Hastings suffers from far too many speeding drivers, many of whom use short cuts through residential areas. There have been two deaths on our streets in the first half of 2022. To address this situation, Hastings Borough Council calls for the introduction of a 20 mph speed limit in residential areas of Hastings & St Leonards.
This idea is rapidly gaining ground across the UK: nearly 600 towns and cities – about 28 million people – now benefit from the safety and better air quality resulting from this lower speed limit. Wales has just introduced a 20 mph limit on urban and residential roads, which comes into force in 2023.
There are so many benefits to reducing speed limits. An area-wide limit makes it easier and safer to choose walking and cycling over car journeys for local trips. The significant reductions in air and noise pollution have a positive impact on physical health, including reductions in heart and lung disease. 20mph speed limits help create better-connected, safer, living communities, with higher air quality. Fewer road accidents, increased exercise, less fear and loneliness, and better-quality sleep from reduced noise levels all improve mental health.
Here are some of the specific benefits of a 20 mph limit:
- Lower carbon emissions: CO2 falls by an average of 26%.
- Nitrous oxide, NOx, falls by an average of 28%.
- Traffic noise falls by up to 50%.
- Greater child safety, making it more possible for children to walk to school.
- Fewer casualties. Evidence from Bristol, Edinburgh, Calderdale, Brighton and others shows how 20mph reduces casualties, saving police and NHS costs. A 1mph reduction in speed on an urban road reduces casualties on average by a whopping 6%.
- Most drivers obey the new speed limit without traffic calming measures. Speed limiters on new cars from 2022 will help.
- 20 mph reduces stop-start driving habits. Less accelerating / braking reduces brake and tyre particulates.
- It’s excellent value for money. Doing nothing costs more!
- Businesses thrive where it is safe to walk and cycle.
- A
20 mph limit makes no significant
difference to bus journeys across town. Many bus companies have
found no difference in their timetables.
The biggest benefit, however, is much simpler, but harder to measure: an increase in well-being. Communities thrive if there is less danger and less noise, creating a stronger sense of place.
Hastings Borough Council wants these benefits for our citizens.
We note that East Sussex County Council has repeatedly rejected motions calling for default 20 mph speeds on all residential streets. However, the County Council has agreed to consider a default 20 mph limit as part of developing Local Transport Plan 4. The Leader of Hastings Council will write to the Leader of East Sussex County Council and the Lead Member for Transport and Environment to call upon East Sussex County Council to make that commitment and invite them to work with us to implement a 20 mph limit on residential roads in Hastings and St Leonards. This should sit within a wider commitment to a Vision Zero approach to road safety, which aims at zero deaths or serious injuries on our roads and has already been adopted by both West Sussex and Kent County Councils.
We call upon the Leader of the Council to write to East Sussex County Council to ask them to set the process of implementing a 20 mph limit in Hastings and St Leonards in motion, working with police and ward councillors to identify all appropriate roads. We also ask all councillors on Hastings Borough Council for their active support for the 20’s Plenty campaign, so we can build a town wide coalition to support this campaign.
The Deputy Mayor adjourned the meeting at 7.36pm and the meeting reconvened at 7.47pm.
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