Withdrawal of Proposals for a Steyning & Bramber 20MPH Scheme. Statement from Steyning Parish Council.

Steyning Parish Council has decided to withdraw its application to West Sussex County Council for a 20mph scheme in the town. This statement explains the reasoning for this and the background to the decision.

In 2021 Steyning Parish Council submitted an application to West Sussex County Council (WSCC) to set up a 20mph scheme covering the whole of the built-up area in Steyning, and adjoining parts of Bramber.

The proposal was for the 20mph area to begin somewhere on Clays Hill to the East and extend to just beyond the Leisure Centre to the West. The Maudlyn Lane and Newham Lane areas would be included, as well as the whole of Shooting field and the Roman Road area

The application was put together by a multi-stakeholder Working Party convened by Steyning Parish Council. This comprised members of Steyning and Bramber Parish Councils, Two District and One County Councillors, and a representative from WSSC Highways Department. Three local community groups: Steyning & District Business Chamber, Steyning & District Community Partnership, and Greening Steyning.

The primary objectives were to:
•    Calm traffic in the area and make our streets feel safer, healthier, and more. welcoming for everyone.
•    Shift the balance in favour of walking and cycling and help get people out of their cars.
•    Benefit children and vulnerable groups who find our busy streets daunting.

Residents’ reactions to the idea of the proposed 20mph Scheme had been tested through a large public survey in Spring 2021. This received over 1500 responses and showed a clear majority, of nearly two to one, in favour of the proposed scheme (see details in the survey report).

The application was submitted to WSCC via their Community Highways Scheme. As part of their normal procedures, the Council Highways Department carried out tests to measure current traffic speeds on a number of roads in the area. In May 2023, the Council came back with their proposal for a 20mph scheme for Steyning.

The WSCC proposal was for a much less ambitious scheme than originally suggested. Rather than the whole built up area, it covered just the centre of town, and a few adjoining streets (see map attached). With the exception of Goring Road, it covered none of the streets the Working Party had identified where speeding is a particular problem, such as Roman Road, Newham Lane, Clays Hill or the Horsham Road. Adjoining areas of Bramber had also been omitted entirely, as had the streets near the Primary and Grammar Schools.

The 20mph Working Party was surprised and disappointed by these proposals and put a series of questions to WSCC to better understand their thinking and see if they would be prepared to amend the scheme to expand its scope.

WSCC were unwilling to do this, citing council speed policies and the problem of ensuring drivers comply with reduced speed limits when current average speeds are well above the proposed limit. According to their policy guidelines, current average speeds have to be no more than 26mph to introduce a 20mph limit. This means that if traffic is going too fast you can’t reduce speed limits just by introducing new speed limit signs.

This limitation can be circumvented by introducing physical traffic calming measures, such as pinch points or speed humps, but the Highways Department explained that that this would be well beyond the budget they had available (which was estimated at £53,000 for just the reduced scheme).

On the basis of this response, the 20mph Working Party recommended that the Parish Council should not go ahead with the proposed WSCC scheme on the grounds that it would have little effect on traffic speeds, would not achieve its stated aims, and would therefore not be value for money.

Local County Councillor, Paul Linehan, conducted his own survey to gauge reactions to the 20mph scheme proposed by WSCC. This showed that 55% of those who responded did not back the pared down scheme.

Following paras to be confirmed once the Communities Committee has met:
Independently, SPC’s Community Committee had come to the same conclusion, and has decided - reluctantly - to withdraw its Community Highways Scheme application.

Steyning and Bramber Parish Councils and the other Working Party members regret this outcome as they were hoping for a much more positive and proactive response from WSCC.