Research carried out by Peasedown Lib Dem Councillors Nathan Hartley and Sarah Bevan shows the majority of residents want to see a 20mph speed zone introduced in every street in their village.

A consultation carried out by the two B&NES Councillors earlier in the Summer shows 65% of respondents want to see the change whilst just 15% want to keep the status quo at 30mph.

Peasedown Councillors Nathan Hartley and Sarah Bevan with Prospective Lib Dem MP Gail Coleshill in Bath Road calling for a 20mph speed limit to be introduced. 

 Cllr Nathan Hartley said one of the key concerns of residents is the speed of vehicles in the local area:

“The speed of vehicles travelling through Peasedown and around residential streets is one of the key worries of my constituents. Much of the correspondence I have received is following a near miss, collision or accident.

In the UK, an average of 57 people are killed every week and a further 350 people are so seriously injured that their lives are irreparably altered. Of these tragedies, 30% involve pedestrians and cyclists. At 30mph, 48% of pedestrians in collision with a vehicle will be killed. If drivers were travelling at 20mph the figure would drop to just 5%”.

Cllr Sarah Bevan, whose brother Tom was killed by a driver doing 30mph, said;

“Twenty miles an hour is the only sensible speed to travel when driving in highly residential or well used streets at the heart of our communities such as the Bath Road. My brother was only 26 when he was killed. He was a fit, healthy, Merchant Navy Seaman and died instantly.

Many years on, I feel able to draw, on my loss to continue making Peasedown a safer place for everyone by achieving a limit of 20mph in all our residential and shopping area.”

The consultation was launched so local Councillors could find out if residents support the national Lib Dem campaign ‘Twenty is Plenty’. Gail Coleshill, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for North East Somerset said:

“I am enthused to learn that Peasedown residents support our campaign. I am keen for 20mph speed limits to be rolled out right across North East Somerset.

Following the response Cllrs Bevan and Hartley will draw up a priority list of streets where 20mph is to be implemented. Following successes in Old Forge Way and New Buildings, Bath Road has been put on the Traffic and Safety register as the next street to see the change as part of this national campaign.