The first village in rural Dorset to introduce a 20 miles an hour limit through its centre is Langton Matravers near Swanage, following a lengthy community campaign.
Installation work was completed on a dozen new 20 mph signs throughout the village on Friday 19th July 2024, with an electronic speed register also put up to clock the speeds of vehicles travelling through the High Street.
Welcome to Langton Matravers’ new, lower speed limit – Dorset’s first rural 20 mph village
Successful end to 10 year battle
Langton Matravers was first to put in an application for a lower speed limit once Dorset Council adopted the ‘Twenty’s plenty’ policy in November 2022.
Four other communities were also given permission to lower limits in the first wave of 20 mph communities, passed in January 2024, but none have been faster off the mark to install the legal signs than Langton Matravers.
The new 20 mph zone now stretches along the B3069 from the village limits west of Capston Field to Steppes Hill, and also covers the residential roads of Steppes Hill, Steppes, Lower Steppes, St Georges Close, Durnford Drove, Gypshayes, Toms Field Road and Capston Field.
It doesn’t cover Crack Lane, nor private roads including Coombe Hill, Three Acre Lane, The Hyde, Mount Pleasant Lane, Old Malthouse Lane, Garfield Lane or North Street, but campaigners say it is a successful conclusion to a 10 year battle.
Langton Matraver’s community speed watch team will be out with handheld cameras
Speed watch team will be out in force
The village’s speed watch team will be out in force in the coming weeks and months with speed guns to check that vehicles adhere to the new lower limits.
A roadside speed monitor maintained by Dorset Council, which can be moved from one end of the village to another, will give motorists a reminder of how fast they are travelling.
Those who drive through Langton Matravers and register 24 miles an hour or more on the speed gun will be sent a warning letter, followed by a further warning if they repeat the offence.
For those caught breaking the speed limit for a third time, uniformed officers will be notified and a home visit will be arranged.
It’s been an uphill battle, but Langton Matravers has finally installed its 20 miles an hour signs
“It was all worth it in the end”
Former parish councillor and campaign leader Ian Vaughan Arbuckle said:
“We were determined to be first to change to a 20 miles an hour village, so we made sure we were the first to get the justification in when Dorset Council opened the doors.
“This village has been trying for 10 years to get a 20 limit. When I first took over responsibility for highways in the village I submitted three cases to the then Dorset County Council, all of which were turned down.
“But the parish council decided that we would continue to press for the limit, so that’s what we did and by having a speed watch team and various other methods, including a full survey of the village in which only 11 percent objected to a lower limit, we won the day.
“It was a big, big struggle, I can’t remember how many times I went across to Dorchester for Dorset Council meetings, but it was all worth it in the end.”
Dorset Council has put up an electronic, solar powered speed monitoring sign in Langton Matravers, though its location will change
Built up a friendly rapport with drivers
Ian Vaughan Arbuckle added:
“I must acknowledge and sincerely thank the speed watch team because without them there is absolutely no doubt that we would not have got 20 mph – they provided the evidence and the ammunition to show Dorset the reality of the situation in Langton Matravers.
“But our work hasn’t ended – we will be going out and about with our speed gun and hope that is a further deterrent for drivers. Rules and regulations are only effective if they can be enforced.
“We have built up a friendly rapport with local drivers and now we get a friendly wave rather than a V sign because they have got used to us and know we are trying to make the village safer for everyone.
“The object of the speed watch is not to get people into trouble, it’s to remind them that we have lower limits for the purposes of everyone’s safety.”
The lower speed limit should make roads around the village school safer for all concerned
“Fatal accident waiting to happen”
Speedwatch member Richard Cottrell said:
“If there is any point in the village that justifies a 20 mph limit, it’s the end of Old Malthouse Lane during school time because it is absolute chaos and frankly, a fatal accident waiting to happen.
“People park right up to the junction either way which means that delivery vans and other vehicles cannot see a child that has stopped.
“We have had conversations with Dorset Council about it, but their attitude is that there isn’t a problem because an accident hasn’t happened yet.
“But hopefully a lower limit will make roads through the village safer and we will continue our work with St George’s Primary School headteacher Katy Astle – who deserves full marks for effort – to educate families about safety around the school.”
Winfrith Newburgh has permission to become a 20 mph village, but is still waiting for signs to be installed
New 20 mph limit for Winfrith Newburgh too
Studland is among other Purbeck villages considering 20 mph limits in the future, while Winfrith Newburgh has already been given permission to lower the speed limit through its village centre between the church and the main A352, but has not yet installed its signs.
Parish council chair Brenda Mustoe said that Winfrith Newburgh had been promised a date of Friday 2nd August 2024 for installation of its 20mph and that she would be delighted to see them put up.
According to the parish council, the village has narrow roads, few pavements and speeding traffic, with cars parking on the street for amenities like the school, shops and church, with the situation aggravated in summer by tourist traffic heading for Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door.
A survey of the village was well supported, with nearly 90 percent of respondents in favour of lowering the speed limit though Winfrith to 20 miles an hour.
Almost 90 percent of respondents to a survey in Winfrith Newburgh were in favour of a 20 mph speed limit
Few footpaths and fast traffic – Winfrith Newburgh is due to drop from 30 mph to 20 on Friday 2nd August 2024
Lower limit won’t apply to cyclists
Elsewhere in the Dorset Council area, Bridport has been granted 20 mph limits on certain streets, while some streets in Wimborne and Pimperne are also being considered for approval.
It is believed that the 20 mph limit won’t apply to cyclists as fines could not be enforced, and although British Cycling says that it urges riders to stick to limits, some have been clocked going through Langton Matravers at more than 30mph in the past.
In general, cyclists share no legal obligation to adhere to the same speed limits as motorists. As such, cyclists who breach the speed limit may not be prosecuted for a speeding offence although they can be prosecuted for ‘cycling furiously’ or ‘wanton and furious cycling’.
Several residential roads in Langton Matravers, including Steppes Hill, also now have the new 20 mph limit
Further information
- More about the UK campaign for 20mph zones on the 20’s Plenty website