A public consultation is trying to implement these limits to a number of roads in the district. But some residents fear that this won't be enforced effectively.
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00:00 Almost 300 road accidents have happened in Sevenoaks town in the past decade
00:04 and now locals are urging for a fundamental change to a number of their roads.
00:09 They want to see 30 limits swapped to 20
00:12 and have put in five petitions in the past six years calling on this.
00:16 A consultation has opened asking members of the public to have their say.
00:20 The cost to residents in Sevenoaks over the course of the last 10 years
00:25 has been £9 million worth of accidents.
00:28 If we can reduce that with only a few tens, maybe a hundred thousand pounds worth of
00:34 infrastructure to get the speed down then that will be a huge saving for residents in Sevenoaks.
00:41 Kent County Council led a consultation last year calling for all residential roads in
00:45 Sevenoaks to have 20 mile per hour limits.
00:48 This has now been refined following feedback
00:50 and these are just some of the roads that could face these 20 limits.
00:55 One business says putting in 20 limits would be vital for safety.
00:59 She's had her off licence for more than 10 years
01:01 and has said in this time she's seen too many people speeding at 40 miles an hour.
01:07 Yeah it's really, this road is very very busy and people are really speeding up.
01:12 We need to sort this out. It's very dangerous because people use all these shops and they're
01:17 crossing roads all the time, even the school children.
01:20 But some residents fear this won't be enforced effectively.
01:24 Complete waste of time. They'll all ignore it. There won't be any enforcement. What's the point?
01:29 I don't think it's important really. I can maybe see where they're doing it
01:33 around schools and that sort of area but it doesn't really concern me.
01:38 Yeah I think it's going to be good and it's going to be
01:41 beneficial to the majority of the people around this place.
01:46 The Mayor of Sevenoaks feels this change is vital for improving not only road safety
01:51 but air quality too.
01:52 The data on the impact of an accident at 20 clearly demonstrates that the risk of death
01:58 at, if you are hit as a pedestrian at 20 miles an hour, is significantly lower than if you're
02:03 hit by the same vehicle at 30 miles an hour. So in terms of pedestrian safety or cyclist
02:08 safety there is an enormous benefit. In terms of fuel consumption for the individual and the
02:12 cost that goes with that, it can reduce the consumption but also the air quality of the
02:18 towns affected can be positively impacted by it.
02:22 Those wishing to have their say have until the 14th December to let Sevenoaks Town Council
02:27 know their thoughts.
02:29 Sophia Akin for KMTV in Sevenoaks.