The introduction of appropriate speed limits, which are replacing national default 60mph speed limits in the rural lanes across the Parishes of Wotton, Abinger and Ockley and the Villages of Coldharbour and Westcott, has been completed with the reduction of the speed limit through the village of Okewood Hill to 30mph.

It is thought that this project, which covered 80 square miles of the county, is the first UK pilot of a rural area -wide reduced speed limit scheme with the speed limit on many roads reduced to 20mph and 30mph.

This has enabled the County Council to improve the safety of our rural roads in south central Surrey and has ensured that the most appropriate speed limit is applied to each road.

Before this project took place, most rural roads in the area were still subject to the national default speed limit of 60mph. This speed limit was clearly inappropriate for these types of roads and higher than the speed limits that had previously been introduced on the main roads through the area, the A24, the A25, and A29. It simply did not make sense that vehicles could turn off these main roads and then legally travel at higher speeds along the winding narrow country lanes.

The evidence suggests that implementing lower speed limits should reduce the number and severity of road collisions, whilst also helping to support the County Council’s active travel programme, improve air quality, and address concerns over excessive vehicle noise across the rural area.