Proposal to erect 20mph signs in Ferring met with resistance

Villagers voiced their concerns at a Ferring Parish County meeting on Monday night over the handling of a traffic regulation order (TRO)to reduce the speed of traffic in the village.

While many would welcome a lower speed limit, there was concern over the use of many small ‘repeater’ signs throughout the village.

Brian Mills, 75, of Herm Road, Ferring, said: “We have a lot of pride in our properties and the village and we don’t want 20 mph lollypop sticks in our village. These are our roads, we pay for them. It’s been very badly handled.”

Paul Hanlan, 67, of Herm Road, said he believed the signs would not stop people speeding as the police were unable to enforce the limit.

“We contacted the police by email and we had a reply that categorically says they don’t enforce the 20mph speed limit,” he said.

Councillor Terry Jackson, who is currently overseeing the TRO proposal, said the idea for traffic-calming in the village was first proposed by the parish council ten years ago. He said the ‘ideal solution’ would be to have engineered traffic-calming measures such as chicanes. However, it would be too expensive to do in a village the size of Ferring.

“We know when we did a survey a couple of years ago the majority of people said yes to the 20mph limit,” he said.

“If we give up this speed limit, we would be very silly. We need to grab this opportunity and get this TRO in place. It may save an old person’s life or it may save a child’s life.”

Mr Jackson said he had received a suggested layout from West Sussex County Council for the repeater signs in the village. He had since worked to reduce the number of signs needed from 49 to 35.

Yesterday, he began visiting the households that would be required to have the signs on their grass verges, should the scheme get the go-ahead.

He said: “What I have tried to do is pick a location where there’s a lot of foliage to lessen the impact.”