Councillors approved 20mph limits for Burneside, Grasmere, Crosscrake and four other places on 15 October, unchanged. Signs are due by the end of March 2027.

The 20mph limits for Burneside, Grasmere and Crosscrake will go ahead exactly as advertised. The South Lakeland Locality Board approved the order at Kendal Town Hall on Thursday 15 October, despite objections at all three.

The draft minutes, published this week, say the signs are expected to be in place by the end of the financial year, which is 31 March 2027. That depends on the council’s procurement. (Draft minutes, South Lakeland Locality Board, 15 October 2026)

What was approved

The order is Variation No. 5 to the council’s South Lakeland speed limits order. The minutes list seven places taken forward:

  • Burneside
  • High Carley and Pennington
  • Lowick Green
  • Outgate
  • Grasmere
  • Ulverston
  • Crosscrake

In Burneside the order also puts a 30mph buffer on part of Hollins Lane before the village limit. That buffer drew 15 of the 18 Burneside objections, all in the same words. We set out every response, and the officers’ answers, in our report before the meeting.

The minutes record that the Grasmere and Ulverston schemes were extended after community requests and feasibility work. The board was also told that one of the appendices had to be corrected so that its Burneside details matched the main report.

The resolution itself still gives the order’s title as “Variation (No. 5) Order 202><”, with the year left blank, as it was in the report. (Full minutes for item 92)

What councillors said

Councillor Will Clark, who proposed approval, said the Grasmere limit was the result of ten years of work. If the scheme saved one life, he said, it had been a success.

The chair, noting the repeated objections with identical wording, said the council may need to take representations through a web form in future.

Councillor Peter Thornton, the Cabinet Member for Highways, said the programme had brought 18 reports to the board, involved visits to more than 70 parishes and has produced 61 schemes.

Some parish councils have been told no, because the road through the village is currently 60mph. Officers said there was now more flexibility in how later schemes were put forward. Councillor Thornton said the council is considering a policy to make it easier for parishes to get a scheme.

County Hall car park: order approved

The same meeting approved the order that removes Areas 1, 2 and 4 of the County Hall car park on Stricklandgate from the council’s parking order, so they can be sold with the building. There were no objections.

The minutes add three details:

  • 151 Stricklandgate is included in the County Hall sale.
  • Area 5 stays as public parking, as Councillor Thornton pointed out.
  • The council is looking at electric vehicle charging across its car parks, using LEVI funding, and will consider the rest of the County Hall parking as part of that.

Councillor Andrew Jarvis said parking would be kept available to the public “for as long as possible”, and that a building of that size could not be sold without parking on site.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes on the road yet. The limits apply once the signs go up, expected by 31 March 2027. Until then the current limits stand.
  • In Burneside, the 20mph limit and the 30mph stretch of Hollins Lane go in together.
  • County Hall’s front car park is going. Blue badge holders keep the four disabled bays in Area 5. Our parking in Kendal page lists the alternatives.
  • If your village wants 20mph but was turned down because of a 60mph road, watch for the parish policy Councillor Thornton described. Your parish council is the route in.

The board next meets on Wednesday 27 January 2027 at 6pm at Kendal Town Hall.

For closures on the roads in the meantime, see our Kendal roadworks and travel page.