By Local Democracy Reporter

Piers Meyler

MANDATORY 20mph zones outside schools and similar zones for residential streets if requested by the majority of residents may be in place within six months.

Essex County Council full council voted to review the current 20mph policy to introduce mandatory 20mph zones outside all schools and 20 mph zones for appropriate residential streets, if requested by the majority of residents, at a meeting today (July 10).

It will now be discussed by the Place Services and Economic Growth Policy and Scrutiny Committee, for adoption, possibly before Christmas.

Councillor Dave Harris, who proposed an initial motion for a review amended by the Tories, said: “This is not just going to be safer for kids – when you think about that last year 789 people died in the UK on 30mph roads in estates, that’s a lot of people – those people are now going to be surviving.

“In most places it will be signage, in other places there might have to be some traffic calming.

“I hope we’ll get something in six months. If we don’t have anything in six months I will be going back to council asking where is it now and what is happening.”

Councillor Louise McKinlay said: “We want something that is feasible, costed, which crucially will deliver what it is we want which is clearly increased safety for all of our children around schools to do that we need to look at this in detail and properly.”

She said simply putting a 20mph limit on the road outside a school may not address the problems.

“I have one in the West Horndon part of my division where the concerns about speeding traffic is not on the immediate road where the school is but on the adjacent road,” she added.