Banstead Speed Limits: 1964 and 1965 Orders Set to Go

Two speed limits in Banstead have stood since the mid-1960s, and Surrey County Council now wants to lift them. Under proposals advertised on 27 August 2026, the 40mph limits on Bolters Lane, Winkworth Road and Croydon Lane would be revoked, taking those roads down to 30mph. A second scheme in Reigate would put 20 roads around Dovers Green at 20mph.

Both are formal Traffic Regulation Order consultations, which is the stage at which objections carry legal weight. The Banstead comments close on 24 September. The Reigate comments close on 25 September.

The Banstead orders are older than most drivers

The detail that stands out in the Banstead notice is where the current limits came from. They were not set by Surrey. They were imposed by two London Traffic Orders made before Banstead’s roads were renumbered (Surrey County Council notice, 27 August 2026):

• The London Traffic (40 M.P.H. Speed Limit) (No.18) Order 1965 governs Bolters Lane and Winkworth Road, then classified as the B280 rather than today’s A2022.
• The London Traffic (40 m.p.h. Speed Limit) (No.15) Order 1964 governs Croydon Lane, also formerly the B280.

Revoking them does not by itself impose a new limit. The notice explains that once the 40mph orders go, those lengths of road become subject to a 30mph limit automatically, by virtue of the street lighting already there. That is the default restricted-road rule in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, and it means the change is a deletion rather than a new sign-posted limit.

The lengths involved are precise. Bolters Lane and Winkworth Road are covered from the A217 Brighton Road junction to a point 100 yards east of Salisbury Road, approximately 1,029 yards in total, excluding the service roads that flank Winkworth Road. Croydon Lane is covered from its junction with Longcroft Avenue to the boundary with the London Borough of Sutton.

A second, separate order in the same notice would impose 20mph on the entire lengths of Longcroft Avenue and Fiddicroft Avenue.

Why the council says it is doing it

Surrey’s stated reasoning is short. “Faster traffic increases the risk and severity of any collision and also makes walking and wheeling less safe and less pleasant,” the council says on its consultation page for the Banstead scheme.

It gives two supporting points. Residents raised concerns about vehicle speeds and road safety on these roads, and the council’s own speed surveys found that average mean speeds on them met its policy criteria for a reduction. In other words, traffic is already moving slowly enough that a lower limit is judged enforceable rather than aspirational.

The consultation page does not publish the survey figures themselves, and we could not obtain them today.

Reigate: 20 roads around Dovers Green

The Reigate scheme is larger in the number of streets it touches, and narrower in what it is for. It is built around Dovers Green Primary School, and the council says it is intended “to improve road safety, particularly for children and other vulnerable road users” (Surrey County Council consultation).

Twenty roads would go to 20mph (Surrey County Council notice, 27 August 2026):

• Arden Close, Ashdown Road, Delamere Road and Sherwood Crescent
• Atherfield Road, Brandsland, Lynn Walk, New Causeway, Potters Way, Reeve Road and Vevers Road
• Coneyberry, Felland Way, Nuthatch Gardens, Rushetts Road, Staplehurst Close, Staplehurst Road, Tilers Way and Weald Way
• Lonesome Lane, from its junction with the A217 Dovers Green Road to a point 20 metres south of Ashdown Road

A separate part of the same order extends the 30mph limit on Lonesome Lane southwards by 210 metres, from the existing terminal signs to a point just north of number 39. The council describes the purpose as creating a 400-metre run of 30mph before drivers reach the 20mph area, so the drop happens in two steps rather than one.

The order also tidies up the paperwork, amending a 1997 borough order covering Lonesome Lane and Meath Green Lane that was itself amended in 2022.

Public engagement on this scheme has already happened once. The council reviewed that feedback, published an engagement report and moved the scheme to this formal stage, so the current consultation is about the legal order rather than the principle.

What it means for you

• If you drive Bolters Lane, Winkworth Road or Croydon Lane, the limit would drop by 10mph. There is no new sign-posted limit to look for: the 30mph would follow from the street lighting.
• If you live on Longcroft Avenue, Fiddicroft Avenue or any of the 20 Reigate roads, the limit outside your house would fall to 20mph.
• To object or support, you must give your grounds in writing by 24 September 2026 (Banstead) or 25 September 2026 (Reigate), either through the online form on Surrey’s roads and transport consultations page or by post to the Traffic Regulation Orders Team, Hazel House, Merrow Lane, Guildford, GU4 7BQ.
• To read the plans on paper, the Banstead documents are at Banstead Library, The Horseshoe, Bolters Lane, SM7 2AW, and at the borough council’s Town Hall reception in Reigate. The Reigate documents are at Reigate Town Hall and at Reigate Library, Bancroft House, Bancroft Road, RH2 7RP.
• Neither limit applies to vehicles used by special forces, an exemption written into every speed limit order since 2011.

Roads are Surrey County Council’s responsibility rather than the borough’s, which is why both consultations come from Guildford and not Reigate Town Hall. Current closures and diversions across the borough are tracked in Reigate roadworks and travel.