A petition to reduce the speed limit in a village road was debated by councillors.

More than 300 people signed the petition calling for the speed limit on Magpie Lane, Coleshill, near Amersham, to be cut from 40mph to 30mph.

It said: “In 2006 speed limits in Coleshill were reviewed and changed to 30mph except in the majority of Magpie Lane.

“We want the road to be safer for villagers, alpacas, horses, walkers, cyclists and drivers by reducing the speed limit to 30mph throughout all of Magpie Lane.

“Support our petition and send a clear message to drivers that this is a 30mph for a reason and it is not safe to drive at higher speeds.”

Discussing the petition at a meeting of the Amersham Community Board on February 18, Cllr Julia Burton said: “I have been living here for well over 40 years and Magpie Lane is one of the narrowest lanes in the whole of Amersham and Chesham, and probably south Bucks.

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“I don’t know which officer those many years ago in their wisdom decided to up [the speed] from 30 to 40 for half the length of Magpie Lane – I have no idea.

“It’s the most ridiculous thing anyone could possibly do going through a small village.

“It’s narrow, there are cottages down there that don’t have garages or gardens or anywhere to pull off the road, so it is extremely difficult.

“We have the bus coming up as well and everything else with HS2.”

Jon Herbert, who started the petition, said there is a “very, very strong feeling” among residents about the issue.

He said: “I was very disappointed to read the report from the officer who seems to have started off with the premise of ‘no, let’s just justify it’.

“He didn’t make any reference to anyone on the parish council to find out a few more facts and I can only assume he doesn’t actually know where Magpie Lane is because there was no reference to things like the fact that we’ve got seven footpaths crossing it.

“We’ve got an awful lot of people now walking on the roads because the fields are too muddy.

“It just strikes me that because we haven’t had a fatality or a serious accident down there we should do nothing, and my view has always been we should be proactive.”

The recommendation in the report said: “If the parish council or community board wish to further investigate the petitioners request… then a full speed limit assessment by Transport for Buckinghamshire should be requested.”

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Members agreed to take the issue up with Transport for Buckinghamshire.

Bucks Council's officer report said: “The assessment involves a comparison against the Department for Transport guidance, a speed survey and a site visit with the Thames Valley Police (TVP) Traffic Management Officer.

“A written report is then provided. If TVP does not support the proposal or it does not meet with DfT guidance, then the proposal is not generally recommended to proceed.”

It added that funds for any new speed limit requests would have to come from the parish council or community board as Bucks Council “no longer has the funds to progress new speed limit requests” since the conclusion of the county-wide speed limit review in 2013.

Funds can also come from independent sources, as part of a casualty reduction scheme or via a developer-funded agreement.