PASSFIELD residents were stunned to hear that a proposed road-safety programme for the village has not been accepted by Hampshire County Council (HCC). The council refused to accept the Village 30 programme on the grounds that the road-frontage- dwellings criteria had not been met. County councillor Sam James announced the news at the Bramshott and Liphook Annual General Meeting (AGM) on March 31, pointing out that he had asked Graham Carter, the county council's group manager for traffic, to explore other possibilities. He also stated that Mott Gifford, HCC's consultant, was investigating speed-limit proposals, with traffic calming features, to achieve a lower speed regime. The Village 30 programme for Passfield was first discussed at a highways, byways and transport meeting of Bramshott and Liphook Parish Council in April 2007, when it received full support from all councillors and an application was put forward to HCC. Parish council chairman John Tough and councillor David Murray, together with Sam James, canvassed for the speed limit to be reduced along this notoriously dangerous stretch of the B3004. At the end of October, a site meeting took place between tree representatives from HCC highways, Mr James, Mr Murray, and parish councillors Nikki Young and Barbara Easton, when it was seemingly agreed by all parties that a Village 30 programme, which would aim to reduce the speed limit to 30mph, would greatly enhance road safety along this stretch of the B3004 and should start at the turn-off for Conford and end by the Passfield Mill Business Park entrance. The proposal suggested that an additional safety precaution of a 40mph speed limit should be introduced from the bridge over the A3 just outside Liphook to meet up with the proposed 30mph along the Passfield straight. A flashing speed-limit sign was also discussed. Local resident Dawn Hoskins, who attended the AGM, was angry and disappointed at the decision that Passfield did not qualify. She told the parish council: "The junction of Hollywater and the B3004 remains a problem. "We are regularly overtaken by vehicles driving well in excess of 60mph. "This is by far the most dangerous section of the B3004, yet, bizarrely, it has the highest speed limit. "The pedantic rigid literal interpretation by HCC of what defines a 'village' is putting people's lives in danger. Just because Passfield does not have houses visible along the road, it does not make it less of a village."
