Too Many Signs on Rural Roads

Use of too many signs undermines the character and appearance of our rural roads. CPRE has for some time been campaigning to reduce signage and other clutter. We want to reduce accidents, but without affecting landscape quality more than absolutely necessary.

Clutter reduction now has the support of many organisations, such as English Heritage, the Countryside Agency, the RAC, and more locally the South Downs Joint Committee.

From a survey of parish councils by CPRE Hampshire in 2004 we know there is overwhelming support for reducing clutter. Local clutter surveys carried out by CPRE Hampshire show that we do have a real local problem. The 45 clutter items per mile seen on some of our rural roads is simply far too many.

A campaign pursued by CPRE Hampshire Transport Campaign Group has resulted in support from Hampshire County Council for our aims to reduce clutter, subject to appropriate road safety.

Now, CPRE Hampshire has been invited to take part in a groundbreaking clutter reduction pilot project with Hampshire County Council. This will take place on the A32 between West Meon and Wickham, starting in 2006. This will be a very detailed project involving close liaison with the Police on the accident record of the road. The different characteristics of the villages along the route will need to be taken account of, which will be a challenge.

This project will be a great opportunity to demonstrate best practice and new ideas, which can then be rolled out across the County. In preparation, we have drawn up our Principles for Road Signage in Rural Areas. These concentrate on the use of common sense, and signage that actually influences the way people behave on the road.

Our campaign has prompted Liss, Odiham, and other villages to undertake a local clutter survey, and to find many unnecessary signs.

Has your village done a clutter survey yet?

May 2006