Jenny Lloyd, 20’s Plenty
“Cutting traffic speed isn’t as complicated as people make out: just putting up signs makes drivers think twice.”
Traffic speed worry
Fed up with cars “whizzing” up and down her street, Jenny Lloyd decided to take action and started a campaign for a 20mph speed limit.
Jenny explains that her road is a shortcut for cars, and with a school at one end it can get very busy. She became aware of how fast the cars where going whilst walking her children to school and worried about the risk to her children and others: “You can tell that the cars go past faster than 30mph and that it is just an accident waiting to happen.”
Whilst campaigning Jenny has had to battle against the old arguments, that implementing speed restrictions is too expensive and difficult to police. Jenny argues that it does not have to be this complicated and that just putting up signs makes drivers think twice. She also gives the example of Portsmouth City Council which has introduced 20mph zones throughout the city, so it can be done!
Jenny is still campaigning hard to get a 20mph limit in her street. Residents are still keen, but councillor support has gone quiet. “My next step will probably be to carry out a petition,” she says.
Looking at the bigger picture, Jenny would like to see 20mph zones throughout Eastbourne. “I hope to contact Portsmouth Council and local groups to discuss how they succeeded in introducing 20mph zones”.
Get writing
Jenny’s first tactic was to start a letter-writing campaign, writing to all local papers and media outlets, local councillors and anyone else she thought may potentially support the campaign.
“The letter-writing generated a lot of support, initially from the local papers, and I was interviewed on local radio. The letters also caught the attention of local councillors and we gained cross-party support.” As a result, Eastbourne Borough Council invited Jenny to speak at its council meeting.
Jenny shares the secret of running a good letter-writing campaign if you’re short of time: produce one really good standard letter and to send the same one out to everyone!
Get people on board
A great strength of the 20’s plenty campaign has been local support. “Road safety is an important issue for people living in the area, and it is important to have local voices.” Jenny generated support through a mailing in her local street and then formed an informal residents’ group.
It’s also important to get other groups on board, such as the Green Party, parents’ groups, school governors etc. Jenny also found the support of the national 20’s Plenty campaign invaluable: “They provided an information pack which I could lift facts from, and posters which we used on placards and displayed in windows.”
Fools rush in
Jenny explains that for anyone campaigning without much time, “It’s really important to think through an action before you take it and discuss tactics with other campaigners. I’m in touch with various other transport campaigners and it’s been really useful to ask them for advice and bounce ideas off of each other.”
"Our campaign would not have been half as successful without the help of Campaign for Better Transport"
- Julie White, Sheffield resident campaigning against M1 widening
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