Burneside would get 20mph on 11 roads and Grasmere on five under a draft order now advertised. Windermere's scheme was dropped. Comments close 28 August.

Sixteen lengths of road in Burneside and Grasmere would drop to 20mph under a draft traffic order that Westmorland and Furness Council is now advertising, with comments closing on Friday 28 August 2026. Windermere, Elterwater, Rydal and Troutbeck were dropped from the same programme earlier in the summer after residents did not back them. (Westmorland and Furness Council, 7 August 2026)

This is the statutory stage, the legal advertisement of the order itself rather than an opinion survey, and it is the last chance to comment before the council decides whether to make the order.

The Burneside roads

The draft is Variation Order No. 5 to the council’s 2024 South Lakeland speed limit order. In Burneside it inserts 20mph limits on 11 lengths of road. (Proposed order)

  • C5057 Hollins Lane, from its junction with the C5058 to a point 80 metres west of the railway line
  • C5057 New Road and New Street, from the C5058 to a point 194 metres north east of the junction with Hall Park
  • C5058, between points near Sharps Lane and Sprint Holme
  • Howgill Close, Chapel Field, Bridge Street and Burneside Bridge, Steele’s Row, Back Lane, Howgill Houses, Churchill Court and Hall Park, each for its entire length

The same order would put a 30mph limit on a further stretch of Hollins Lane, from a point 18 metres west of the level crossing to a point 375 metres east of its junction with the U5315.

The Grasmere roads

In Grasmere, in the parish of Lakes, five lengths of road are listed for 20mph: B5287 Broadgate and Swan Lane, C5002 Pye Lane, Benfield and Ben Place, each for their entire length, and Red Bank Road from its junction with the B5287 at Church Stile to its junction with the U5524.

Red Bank Road already carries a 20mph limit over roughly 364 metres. The order revokes that entry and replaces it with the longer extent, so this is an extension rather than a new limit.

Elsewhere in the order, Crosscrake gets 20mph on 265 metres of the U5629 and a 30mph on the C5075, and Outgate, Lowick Green, High Carley, Pennington and Ulverston have their own schemes.

One point worth flagging: the council’s summary page lists Sedgwick among the places getting new 20mph limits, but Sedgwick appears in the draft order only once, in a clause revoking a 30mph provision made in 2025. On the document as published, Sedgwick is not gaining a 20mph limit.

South Lakes 20mph schemes: going ahead to statutory consultation are Burneside with 11 roads, Grasmere with 5, Crosscrake with 1 and Outgate with 1; not going ahead are Windermere, Elterwater, Rydal and Troutbeck
Graphic by Kendal News
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Why Windermere is not on the list

The schemes reaching this stage are the survivors of a much larger phase. The council consulted on 26 proposals in phase three and received more than 2,000 responses. Seventeen were approved to go forward, 11 without changes and six with amendments, and nine were not taken forward. (Westmorland and Furness Council, 17 July 2026)

In the south Lakes, the four dropped for lack of support were Windermere, Elterwater, Rydal and Troutbeck. Burneside, Grasmere and Ulverston went forward with amendments. Cllr Peter Thornton, Cabinet Member for Highways and ICT, said: “I am pleased that these 20mph schemes will now progress to the next stage.”

What it means for you

If you live on one of the named roads, or drive through Burneside or Grasmere, the order as drafted is what would be enforced, so the detail of where each limit starts and stops is the thing to check rather than the general idea of a 20mph village.

The plans showing the exact lengths of road can be seen at Kendal Library on Stricklandgate, Ambleside Library on Kelsick Road, Windermere Library on Ellerthwaite Road, Ulverston Library, and at the reception of South Lakeland House on Lowther Street in Kendal. They are also published with the order on the council’s website.

To comment, write to the 20mph Project Team, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street, Kendal LA9 4DQ, or email 20mph@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk by Friday 28 August 2026. The council says a final decision on implementation follows later this year.

A separate parking consultation, on removing three areas of the County Hall car park in Kendal from the council’s parking order, closes the day before, on 27 August. Current closures and diversions are on our Kendal roadworks and travel page.