Winchelsea Speed Watch

Who we are and what we are seeking to achieve

We are a group of residents who wish to reduce the speed of traffic passing through Winchelsea by:

  • lobbying for effective traffic calming and speed limit enforcement
  • promoting the adoption of new solutions to traffic speed problems
  • helping in the implementation of schemes to reduce traffic speed.

We are not an “anti-car” group. All our members are drivers, but we try to be responsible when driving through other villages and we are simply asking other drivers to behave responsibly when in Winchelsea.

The excessive speed of traffic is the most serious day-to-day problem in Winchelsea. Speeding traffic not only poses a risk to life and limb, but intimidates people on their own streets and disrupts the community by making it difficult to walk around freely, particularly if you are elderly, infirm or young.

Despite the importance attached to traffic problems by residents, it has proved almost impossible to get effective action from the responsible authorities. To a large extent, this difficulty has reflected:

  • lack of effective community leadership by Icklesham Parish Council, which has refused to lobby on behalf of its communities and has been reluctant to support community action
  • lack of interest in traffic problems by our District and County Councillors, and our MP
  • progressive reductions in the traffic management budget of East Sussex County Council and the traffic enforcement budget of Sussex Police.

Winchelsea's traffic problem | What we have done

The quality of life with less traffic

In 2001, a landslip on Strand Hill closed Winchelsea to through-traffic. For 18 months, we enjoyed civilised streets and freedom from the noise and pollution of traffic.

During this period, pedestrians became noticeably more relaxed. People lingered to talk, undisturbed by speeding cars. The local children took to the streets, not least on their bikes. Many of them met each other for the first time, having previously been kept off the streets by worried parents. The children made friendships that have endured. Someone commented that they did not realise there were so many children in Winchelsea.

The closure of Winchelsea to through-traffic had no impact on the business of the Little Shop, nor of our butcher. The local tea room and pub complained of loss of custom but this was never substantiated. The tea room has since closed and the pub continued to decline despite having increasing volumes of traffic flowing past them since the road was re-opened. Interestingly, a new landlord who took over the pub in October 2007 has shown that the previous problem was simply down to poor service.

When a proposal was made to keep Strand Hill closed permanently, a referendum was held. Although the majority of residents were in favour of closure or traffic restrictions in the form of a one-way system, the County Council chose to interpret the result as a majority against closure. It would appear that a cash-strapped County Council highways authority was worried by the cost of closing the hill. The referendum form was structured in a way designed to split the vote against unfettered re-opening (by offering two choices of one-way system, even though one of these options was dangerous) and one of the ballot boxes was situated in the premises of an opponent of closure.