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Lords to discuss 30mph limit

A fresh attempt to insert a 30mph default speed limit for villages into the Government's Road Safety Bill will be made next month (Surveyor, 20 October).

The amendment will be proposed by Liberal Democrat peers Lord Bradshaw and Baroness Scott of Needham Market when the Bill reaches report stage in the House of Lords. It will receive the backing of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), the Slower Speeds Initiative, and the Safer Streets Coalition.

A telephone survey by CPRE of 34 English county councils revealed that only 10 had a policy to apply a 30mph default limit to all villages in their area. "Five years ago the prime minister said 30mph should be the normal speed limit for villages,' said Paul Hamblin, CPRE's head of transport policy. "But our survey shows demand far outstripping action on the ground."

But County Surveyors' Society traffic and safety chair Brian Goodwin said most authorities already had, or were putting together, speed-management strategies with the aim of reducing speeds to 30mph in towns and villages - even if they did not have a policy to introduce a default 30mph limit.