On Wednesday, 20th May 2009, the New Forest Commoners Defence Association called for the speed limit on the Forests unfenced roads to be reduced from 40 mph to 30 mph.

Nearly all the villages now have a 30 mph speed limit and in Committee after the Open Court, the Verderers considered the CDAs Presentment and agreed unanimously to adopt the arguments for a 30 mph maximum speed limit across the whole Forest.

The Official Verderer said:

"Having a universal speed limit of thirty miles an hour across the whole of the Forest makes very good sense. The Government's own statistics show that the ten mile per hour difference between 30 and 40 miles an hour hugely reduces the risk of accidents.

Another benefit would be the removal of the multitude of ugly and rather pointless new signs that have had to be erected all over the Forest because of the different speed limits in most of our villages, sometimes only yards apart! All of the Forest's organisations agree that we should reduce animal accidents and unnecessary signposts, and this excellent idea deals with both."

Sue Westwood
Clerk to the Verderers
21st May 2009


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I wholeheartedly concur with the Verderers decision, and believe it would be a positive step forward in the prevention of animal accidents. It would however require an intense Police presence to ensure that the public conformed to the new regulation in the first instance.
M.A.C.

It needs policing already, it is 30 outside my parents place yet they still fly down the road, go round the corner, drop it down a gear and fly off. One in particular who I have already noted his number plate. He slows down when you are out on the horse but has no idea of the forest ponies, I'm worried he will hit one of my mares or foals, he comes past everyday. Where can I go with his registration where something will be done about it??!!

My OH groaned when I told him of these proposals, saying people would never go with it, well that may be the case but whereas at the moment they are doing 50mph in a 40, perhaps if the speed limits are reduced to 30mph, then at least they might come down to 40mph (in the 30). It would be a start.

High time this was done! I think drivers take more notice of a 30 than they do of a 40 - but one of the biggest impacts will that it will remove the open Forest roads as a 'time saving rat run' once the SatNavs get updated to show how sloooowly you have to go over the Forest!

Wholeheartedly applaud this move!

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Give the registration number to the police - they may chase the owner up and reprimand him or better still set one of their rare speed traps. The other day I was thinking that a community officer should be employed as a roving speed trapper and be permanently on the Forest with a radar gun and a mobile that anyone worried about persistant speeding by one individual or a particular place could contact them direct.

the trouble is, unless or until there are human deaths, the police are just not interested. They will claim they are stretched to the limit and enforcing speed limits to reduce the number of pony deaths is not a priority