Petitioners called on a senior county councillor to lower the speed limit of a busy rural road at a meeting this week.
On Monday (September 23), Cllr Claire Dowling, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport and environment, considered a petition calling for the speed limit of the A267 Wellbrook Hill to be lowered from 50mph to 40mph.
The petition, which organisers said was signed by more than 580 people, argued the current speed limit is “excessively high for the conditions of the road” and called on the council to lower it “immediately”.
Ahead of the meeting, officers published a report saying the road is being considered as part of the county council’s Speed Management Programme — a scheme through which the authority is assessing whether parts of its A and B-class road network could benefit from a reduced speed limit.
The report notes how this programme is ongoing with a “prioritisation process” set to take place in the very near future.
This process was welcomed by lead petitioner Joel Marlow, although he also called for urgency to address concerns.
He said: “This issue has gone on for a long time; it has only gotten worse and with extra development it will continue to do so. The road is used more and more and the speed limit at the moment isn’t appropriate for the road that is there.
“We are delighted to see that the speed survey showed a 40mph speed limit may be acceptable. What I now ask is that if the council were to support our proposal, the process is expedited where possible.
“I do understand that due process must and will be followed, however there have been multiple accidents and fatalities on this road and we need to ensure that danger to the public is reduced as quickly as possible.”
The petition was also supported by ward councillor Anne Cross (Green), who spoke about the “constant day-to-day stress” of people living on the road.
Similar support was voiced by neighbouring ward councillor Bob Standley (Con) and Cllr Gerard Fox (Con).
With the speed management programme still ongoing, officers had recommended that the petition’s calls be declined at this time. They also noted how, if the road is not identified as a priority upon completion of the programme, the council will contact the parish council to explore if they may consider progressing a speed scheme as part of a Community Match application.
Cllr Dowling said: “I know Wellbrook Hill, it is the way I have to go … so I do know it. I fully understand what you are after, I understand the reasons behind the need for this to go down to 40mph.
“This is one of the reasons I asked the department if we could look at doing this speed management programme … we will know the outcome of that very shortly, within the next few weeks … but I will be going with recommendations.”
