Calls to extend new Battle 40mph speed limit are declined

On Monday (July 18), Cllr Claire Dowling, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport and environment, considered a petition calling for the extension of a 40mph speed limit on the A2100 London Road.

The petition had followed on from a recently-approved Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) connected to the Lillybank housing development. This TRO had itself extended the existing speed limit, but petitioners had called for the extension to go even further, so that it went past the road’s junction with Canadia Way.

Officers had argued a further extension was not considered to be a high priority scheme as there are not significant safety issues in the area.

This was disputed by ward councillor Kathryn Field (Lib Dem), who said: “There is a history of accidents at Canadia. A long history of accidents of deaths and shunts and dings.

“In the early spring a car rolled off the road. It was there for about a week and just as it was being put back together again another car did exactly the same thing.

“The problem with that stretch of road is that it is a long, straight road and it is fast.”

Officers, however, said this view was not supported by Sussex Police crash data, which reported only a single crash involving an injury within the past five years.

Officers also said any speed limit would likely require significant engineering works to put in place effectively.

Their report said: “If the 40mph speed limit was extendedto a point beyond the Canadia Road junction, this would extend it by at least 600 metres from the proposed position agreed for the Lillybank development. As this section of road has very limited development, set back from the road, mostly screened by vegetation and not clearly visible to a motorist, the reasons for the speed limit would not be obvious to a driver.”

Even so officers recommended that concerned residents should approach Battle Town Council to see whether it would consider seeking match-funding for a more in-depth study into whether further safety works were needed in the area.

This approach was endorsed by Cllr Dowling, who officially declined the petition’s request.