Fundraising plea for 30mph speed limit in Kingstone

Kingstone Parish Meeting set up a petition to introduce traffic calming measures on on the whole of Kingstone, and neighbouring parts of Moolham Lane and Mill Lane last May.

READ MORE: Petition to slow down traffic on road from Ilminster to Kingstone 

The group are now working in conjunction with Somerset County Council (SCC) to introduce these measures - but they need to raise the funds to do so.

Resident Tom Ranson, who is coordinating the project, has said SCC has concluded that introducing the speed limit would be 'appropriate' for the roads, but not 'essential'.

This means the parishes will need to raise funds to implement the limits. The scheme will require £4,000 to £5,000 of private funding, based on the project costs for a similar scheme in Seavington St Michael.

"This will need to be provided by the parishes and members of the community as no central funding is available given this is a 'desirable' and not 'essential' change of speed limit," said Tom.

"With many thanks to everyone that has contributed to getting the campaign this far, we now need to raise the necessary funding in order to move forward.

"Dowlish Wake parish council recently very generously contributed £1,000 toward the project and a further £600 has so far been pledged by some Kingstone residents, so with £1,600 so far we are well on our way to reaching the goal.

"We are now looking to the community to come together with financial support such that we can all reap the benefits of a much safer and more appropriate 30 MPH speed limit.

"Any amount that you can afford to pledge will greatly benefit the campaign and make this a reality for us all.

"For the moment we are just requesting pledges be voiced to the project coordinator so that we can tally them up and follow up with individual contributors later to collect the donations (as we are still finalising the details of a suitable campaign bank account / crowd sourcing page to collect funds)."

To pledge funds, or for any questions, email Tom at kingstonespeedlimitproject@gmail.com.

A spokesperson for Somerset County Council added: "We have been working closely with the parish council on the planning and implementation of a 30 mph speed limit.

"Once the funding is in place Somerset County Council will design the scheme. The Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) will then be prepared and advertised. As part of this process, we formally consult with the police as well as all statutory consultees."