20mph Dropped in Cold Ash, Hermitage and Four More Villages

West Berkshire Council has abandoned plans to cut speed limits to 20mph across six villages north and east of Newbury, after residents objected in every one of them.

The proposal covered most residential roads in Ashmore Green, Hermitage, Cold Ash, Bucklebury, Upper Bucklebury and Chapel Row, with some 30mph and 40mph limits added to keep the limits consistent within each settlement. All of it has been dropped.

Councillor Stuart Gourley, the executive member for environment and highways, approved the abandonment on 14 August 2026. It was not called in and took effect on 22 August.

Objections beat support in all six villages

The statutory consultation drew 1,188 responses in total. The council’s own table shows objections outnumbering support everywhere, by between two and three to one.

The totals column adds up to 1,188, but in each village the three categories do not add up to the village total. The shortfall runs from 12 in Ashmore Green to 27 in Hermitage, 113 responses in all, and the table does not label it. The report says elsewhere that the appendix of responses includes “blank records” and that repeated or identical views were condensed, “hence why the numbers received and stated are different”.

A second figure in the same document disagrees again. The equality impact assessment attached as Appendix A says “in total, 501 responses were received to the consultation”, against the 1,188 in the report’s own executive summary.

The council says the scheme would not have cut crashes

The most striking passage is the officer response to objectors who pointed out that no collision or speed survey evidence had been published.

“It is accepted that the proposed 20mph limits would not lead to a demonstrable reduction in collisions,” the report says. “The reduction in limits is based on policy driven by the administration’s wishes to see more 20mph and lower speed limits, rather than an objective need to improve safety based on collision figures.”

The council also confirms the roads themselves passed its own tests. Its proposal paragraph says that “although the roads selected for the proposed speed limit change are suitable, appropriate and meet the assessment criteria, this proposal is not taken forward”.

Thames Valley Police objected to two of the six

Thames Valley Police responded as a statutory consultee. It:

• objected to the proposals for Hermitage and Cold Ash
• recorded a neutral position on Bucklebury, Upper Bucklebury and Chapel Row
• recorded no position on Ashmore Green

The force told the council it is not opposed to lower limits where they suit the road and are likely to cut casualties, but that it has “no policy to enforce based on arbitrary speed limits alone” and enforces on threat of harm, risk and resourcing. It added that there should be no expectation of extra enforcement beyond routine activity unless that has been explicitly agreed, that in this case it had not been, and that no additional resources were available.

What objectors said

The council grouped the objections into eight themes. The largest were:

• 127 said it was a waste of money, and that the cash should go on traffic calming, road repairs or other services
• 59 said the existing 30mph limits are not enforced, so a 20mph limit would not be either
• 41 said a blanket 20mph was not needed, and that part-time limits outside schools plus 20mph near parks, shops and residential streets would be enough
• 33 expected more congestion and longer journeys
• 24 pointed to the absence of collision or speed survey data
• 17 expected more pollution, not less
• 6 said the council wanted the fine income. The report’s answer is that speeding fines go to the Treasury, so “the Council will not profit”
• 6 said there were now too many different limits, confusing drivers

Implementing the scheme would have cost about £30,000, from a capital budget already set aside for speed limit changes in the 2026/27 network management works programme.

The parish councils had been in favour

Before the statutory consultation, the council held non-statutory sessions with ward members and the parish councils in Hermitage, Cold Ash, Bucklebury, Upper Bucklebury and Chapel Row. “Overall, the proposals were largely well received,” the report says, and officers amended the road list before going out to the public.

The public then objected roughly two to one. That gap between what the parish councils supported and what residents said is the reason the council is changing how it does this at all.

What it means for you

• Nothing changes on the ground. The existing limits in all six villages stay as they are. No new signs will be put up and no order will be sealed.
• You can still ask for a single road to change. The council’s decision says requests for individual speed limit changes should be “encouraged and supported through the Local Ward members/Town Council”, and that it will develop a mechanism for handling them where a road has majority support and meets the criteria. That is the route now, rather than a village-wide scheme.
• Thatcham is named separately in the same decision, with requests there directed through ward members and the town council. West Berkshire consulted on a proposed 20mph limit for Thatcham as a separate exercise.
• The council could have gone ahead anyway. Its own options list included proceeding as advertised “and go against the result of the consultation”, and taking forward only the individual roads that had support. It chose neither.

For what else is changing on the roads around Newbury this month, see Newbury roadworks and travel. The B4009 through Hermitage and Hampstead Norreys is closed overnight from 2 to 5 September for gully cleansing, and that page has the detail.

Sources

• West Berkshire Council, decision ID4822, 14 August 2026, for the resolutions abandoning each scheme, the call-in position and the effective date.
• Officer report, Hermitage and Cold Ash 20mph Speed Limit, for the response table, the 1,188 and 501 figures, the police response, the eight objection themes and their counts, the £30,000 cost, the parish council engagement and the options considered.
• West Berkshire Council consultation page, Hermitage, Bucklebury and Cold Ash 20mph speed limit, for the full list of roads in each village that the proposal covered.