A HASLEMERE man has hit out at Surrey County Council’s decision not to make 20mph the default speed limit in town centres and residential areas.

Alastair Bayliss – who has lived in Haslemere for eight years and is a 20’s Plenty for Surrey volunteer – is also critical of the county’s cabinet member for transport Cllr Matt Furniss.

He said: “It’s disappointing and frankly odd. What Cllr Furniss says is ‘unworkable’ has already been successfully delivered to millions in the UK.”

Mr Bayliss hoped Surrey County Council would update its policy on 20mph zones, so towns in the county, such as Haslemere, could implement lower speed limits.

But a Liberal Democrat motion to introduce 20mph zones in all residential roads, town centres, and outside schools was defeated by Conservative members at a county council meeting.

In his proposal, Liberal Democrats councillor Lance Spencer said this would reduce vehicle emissions and make pedestrians and cyclists feel safer.

He added it could be done where there was community support by simply, and cheaply, replacing 30mph signs with 20mph ones.

The proposal was dismissed by Conservative councillors at the meeting on Tuesday, January 18.

They insisted that once speeds get above 24mph signage doesn’t work and more costly speed reduction measures, such as speed humps, would be needed.

Conservative cabinet member for transport Matt Furniss has since announced an additional £1m of funding over three years will be available to tackle road safety concerns councillors and residents have.

Mr Bayliss has hit out at the decision not to adopt 20mph zones wherever possible.

He said: “Sadly, for Haslemere this means any scheme that actually reduces speeds will be prohibitively expensive.

“Sure, we could label a couple of the already slower roads with 20mph signs, but why?

“The most threatening stretches of road in the urban centre would be deemed too fast to tame.

“If you can get your head around that logic you are a better person than me.

“Wide-area, signed-only schemes are proven to work and would work in Haslemere.

“The number of people killed and seriously injured on Surrey’s slower speed roads has risen over the past 20 years. In London, the number has fallen by 50 per cent.

“Something is going very wrong in Surrey.

“Cllr Furniss said “the desire for lower speeds has to be balanced against reasonable journey times”.

“Safer roads, lower pollution, improved health, more active travel set against, perhaps, a journey 30 seconds longer, I’d say choose 20mph. 20’s Plenty for Surrey will continue to campaign against the existing policy and we urge others to join us.”