Parish Council traffic updates

Missing street signs replaced

Thanks to a Local Footpath and Highways Improvement Grant, Downton has had some missing street signs replaced: Downlands Close, Avon Meadow, and Castle Meadow. Replacement bollards have also been fixed in the Tannery pinch point.

Traffic updates:  20mph speed limit?

At residents’ request, the Parish Council has submitted evidence from Wiltshire Council run traffic surveys - plus a pedestrian survey carried out by Councillors and volunteers - for a 20-mph limit in Downton. This will be assessed by the Traffic Engineering team at Wiltshire Council.

The Council is waiting for a date from the contractor for the reflective surface at the unofficial crossing at

There will be 2 “pedestrian in road” signs and “slow” markings on the road in Slab Lane.

A proposal has been made to Wiltshire Council for signage and a post at the entrance of Gravel Close to deter HGV’s from thinking access can be had to the industrial estate.

Parish Steward in September

Our Parish Steward, Steve, will be visiting on the 10 and 14 September.  Please contact the admin officer with details of any blocked gullies/drains, weeding of footpaths etc. and they will be added to the list of tasks.

Sign tampering

An eagle-eyed resident noticed a discrepancy in the speed signs up and down Slab Lane. Downton Parish Council queried this with Wiltshire Council Traffic Engineering Team and received the following response. The last paragraph outlines the seriousness of tampering with signs.

“From the images you provided, it looks as though someone may have taken it upon themselves to stick the roundels over the top of the correct (national speed limit) signage. You can just see the signage underneath, and I confirm this was neither of our highway teams. I have asked a technician from Highways to inspect this today. If he is able, he will remove it however, if not we will get the steward to attend with something a bit more substantial to get it off! Thanks for the heads up, if you notice this happen again, please let me know.’

The Parish Council note that it is imperative that these signs are correct. A spokesperson said, “ What the culprit hasn't taken into consideration is that it invalidates all speed limits if the signage is wrong, meaning that the police cannot enforce any of it. This can also have significant implications if there is a collision and speed may be an impact.”