Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Customer Service Centre & Employment

To note the report and decide on whether to reduce the speed limit on this stretch of the A308 from 40 mph to 30 mph.

That Cabinet noted the report and agreed to reduce the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph on the A308 between Monkey Island Lane and the M4 Motorway Bridge.

AGREED: That the order of business be changed so that agenda item 8 be heard first, followed by agenda item 7. The order of business would then resume as per the agenda order.

There were two registered speakers on the item, who were invited to speak.

Councillor Cross addressed Cabinet as a registered speaker. As Ward Councillor for the area in question, she thanked Councillor Hill for assisting her in bringing this to the Cabinet. She then set out various reasons as to why the Cabinet should endorse the reduction of the speed limit. She referred to the Place Overview & Scrutiny Panel, which had met on 14 September 2023 to scrutinise the report, before Cabinet considered it. This was praised by allowing Councillors from al political groups, to have their say on the paper.

Andrew Cormie also addressed Cabinet as a registered speaker. He was Chair of the Holyport Residents Association. He urged the Cabinet to decrease the speed limit in this area from 40mph to 30mph. He said that the Council had not conformed with government guidance for speed limits, due to there being no legal challenge. He said that the advice that had been provided by the highway technicians and the police was also incorrect.

Councillor Hill, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Customer Service Centre and Employment, thanked the speakers for their elegant and insightful words.

Councillor Hill said that the traffic on this stretch of the road needed to be slowed down due to not only the safety of persons crossing the road, but also the current issues that existed with congestion. He asked his fellow Cabinet Members to support the recommendation that he had put forward to them, which was to reduce the speed limit on this stretch of the road from 40mph to 30mph.

Councillor Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Communities and Leisure, stated that he was very happy to second Councillor Hill’s motion to reduce the speed limit. Both he and Councillor Del Campo, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Housing Services, praised the input from the Place Overview & Scrutiny Panel and said that this report was a fantastic example of a paper to go to a scrutiny panel and be seen by Councillors from all political parties, prior to the Cabinet considering it. This allowed them to gather a range of different views, before making an informed decision.

Councillor Coe, Cabinet Member for Environmental Services also supported this and said that he had seen a number of children attempting to cross this stretch of road on several occasions and that a reduction in the speed limit would make this easier and encourage more to walk.

Councillor Bermange, Cabinet Member for Planning, Legal and Asset Management, praised Appendix A of the report and said that it was important to recognise that each person had different needs and requirements when it came to users crossing the road. This could be that they were young or had a disability perhaps, which would limit their ability to do so on a 40mph stretch of road. He then provided some clarity on the legalities of the proposal if the reduction in the speed limit was decided as the course of action.

Councillor Jones, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance, wished to highlight the exact stretch of road that the change in speed limit was being proposed at. She said this as one of the public speakers, had referred to a stretch of the road that was not being considered by the Cabinet.

AGREED: That Cabinet noted the report and agreed to reduce the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph on the A308 between Monkey Island Lane and the M4 Motorway Bridge.