Burneside 20mph plan faces 18 objections as Kendal-area councillors prepare to decide

A proposed 20mph limit in Burneside will go before councillors this week despite 18 of the 20 public responses opposing it. The South Lakeland Locality Board is due to decide whether the order should be made at a meeting in Kendal.

The meeting starts at 6pm on Thursday 15 October 2026 in the District Council Chamber at Kendal Town Hall on Lowther Street. The 20mph order is listed as agenda item nine, followed by an order concerning the County Hall car park.

Officers recommend that the Burneside order, along with proposed limits in Grasmere, Crosscrake and four other South Lakes locations, is implemented exactly as advertised. The recommendation follows a statutory consultation that received 121 representations.

What the Burneside proposal would change

In Burneside, about two miles north of Kendal, the draft order covers 11 lengths of road. It also proposes a 30mph limit on part of Hollins Lane, acting as a buffer before the 20mph zone.

Of the 20 Burneside responses, two supported the proposals and 18 objected. Burneside Parish Council responded separately in favour of both the 20mph proposals and the proposed 30mph change on Hollins Lane.

However, the objections do not represent 18 separate arguments. The council’s consultation summary says 15 responses repeated the same wording, focusing on the proposed 30mph buffer on the C5057 Hollins Lane.

That shared objection argues that placing a 30mph section immediately before the 20mph zone could make drivers less likely to notice or obey the lower limit. It also asks the council to provide evidence that the buffer would improve safety.

The remaining objections question whether a village-wide limit has been justified without published collision, casualty or speed-survey data. One response calls instead for targeted restrictions near the school and play areas, supported by physical traffic calming, and says the proposals suggest some Burneside roads do not warrant 20mph limits.

Other concerns include whether signs alone would be effective on through routes such as Hollins Lane and New Road, and whether police resources could realistically enforce the restrictions. One objection says the measures are “absolutely not needed except by the school”.

Safety arguments and local concerns

The two supporters point to a rat-run from the A6 through the village and up Hollins Lane towards the A591. They also cite the lack of a footway between the cricket club and the village centre, lorries serving the James Cropper mill, traffic around St Oswald’s school at peak times and National Cycle Route 6.

They also raise the single-lane effect caused by parked cars on Winter Lane in Bowston. These concerns form part of the local case for reducing vehicle speeds and improving safety for people walking and cycling.

Officers describe the proposed limits as “a proactive measure” intended to reduce the risk of a collision involving a vulnerable road user. Their report says a 20mph limit can mean “up to 70% less risk of a fatality”. Officers also say enforcement will be “proportionate” and carried out through existing police resources.

The report states that the scheme is funded separately from the highways capital budget. Officers say the community supported it during an earlier informal stage and recommend proceeding despite the formal objections.

Other South Lakes schemes on the agenda

The same group of 15 respondents also objected to the Crosscrake and Grasmere proposals using shared wording. Crosscrake, about three miles south of Kendal, received 16 responses, all against the scheme.

The Crosscrake objection says the C5074 has a 60mph limit and refers to council guidance that 20mph schemes should apply where the existing limit is no higher than 40mph. Officers respond that Crosscrake was developed outside the main 20mph programme, so its criteria do not apply, and that the criteria are guidance rather than a legal test. They also say the initial consultation had “unanimous support”.

Grasmere received 23 responses: seven in support and 16 against. Supporters referred to Red Bank Road, where there is no pavement and hundreds of people walk the lake circuit each day. The Lake District National Park Authority supports the Grasmere, Outgate and Lowick schemes but wants signage on Red Bank Road to respect the World Heritage Site landscape.

The council’s active travel team also supports the Grasmere proposal. A separate scheme is expected to consider reducing the A591 from the national speed limit to 50mph between Grasmere and the top of Dunmail Raise.

Elsewhere, High Carley and Pennington received one response in support and 16 against; Outgate received two, both in support; and Ulverston received 21 supportive responses, one conditional response and 11 objections. Eight general comments not linked to a particular location split three in support and five against. Officers recommend all the schemes are made as advertised.

The papers also contain two points of uncertainty. A written officer response about Grasmere refers to the C5074, which is the Crosscrake road, suggesting that the Grasmere response may have been copied from the Crosscrake response. In addition, Sedgwick is listed in the statutory notice among places introducing a 20mph limit, although the draft order appears to mention it only in a clause revoking a 2025 30mph provision and the response summary has no Sedgwick section.