The council made Kendal's 20mph order on 3 November. It covers the A6 through town and more than 170 lengths of road, and applies once the signs go up.

Most of Kendal’s streets will drop to a 20mph limit. Westmorland and Furness Council made the legal order for the town’s 20mph scheme on Tuesday 3 November. It published the notice in the Westmorland Gazette on 5 November.

The order covers the main roads through the town centre and more than 170 lengths of road in all, many of them whole housing estates. The new limits apply once the signs are up. The council has not yet published a date for that.

The council’s notice says the same order brings in 20mph limits in eight other south Lakes places:

  • Barbon
  • Cartmel
  • Greenodd and Penny Bridge
  • Heversham
  • Ings
  • Levens, where the existing 20mph area is also extended
  • Milnthorpe
  • Satterthwaite

It also swaps some 30mph lengths in Penny Bridge, Levens and Satterthwaite for 20mph, and brings in new 30mph limits on parts of the roads in Cartmel, Penny Bridge and Satterthwaite.

Which Kendal roads are covered

The full list of roads is in the draft order the council put on deposit for consultation in November 2025, in its deposit documents. The notice of the made order describes exactly the same changes in the same places. The made order itself was not yet on the council’s website on 7 November.

The main roads in the draft are:

  • the A6 north of the centre, Shap Road, Longpool, Station Road, Sandes Avenue and Blackhall Road, from just south of Vine Road to New Road
  • the A6 south of the centre, Highgate, Kirkland and Milnthorpe Road, from Lowther Street to just past Wattsfield Road
  • Romney Road and Burton Road, as far as Lound Road
  • the A65 one-way system: Wildman Street, Stramongate, New Road, Lowther Street and Aynam Road
  • the A5284, Stricklandgate and Windermere Road as far as Green Hill
  • the A684: Ann Street, Castle Street and Sedbergh Road to Beech Close
  • Appleby Road (A685), to about 100 metres short of the C5012
  • Allhallows Lane, Beast Banks and Greenside, Brigsteer Road, Kentrigg Road, Natland Road to Natland Mill Beck Lane, and the first 480 metres of the C5066 Sedbergh Road

The rest are residential streets, almost all “in its entirety”. They run from Kendal Green, Castle Garth and Fowl Ing in the north and east, through Underley, Hayclose and the Mint estates, to Kendal Parks, Stainbank Road, Underwood, Natland Mill Beck Lane and the newer roads around Kirkbie Green and Valley Drive in the south.

Aynam Road already has a temporary 20mph limit for the flood defence works, set out on our Kendal roadworks and travel page. That temporary order is separate.

How it got here

The scheme came from requests by town and parish councils and local councillors. The council’s statement of reasons says officers assessed each place against the Department for Transport’s “Setting Local Speed Limits” guidance. It gives two legal reasons: avoiding danger to people using the road, and improving the amenity of the area.

Kendal’s scheme split opinion. The council’s October 2025 announcement gave the results of the first consultation:

  • 15,712 properties in Kendal were sent the consultation
  • 2,705 responses came back
  • 40% supported the plan
  • 16% supported it with changes
  • 44% were against

The South Lakeland Locality Board decided in October 2025 that the Kendal scheme would “move ahead as planned” to the statutory stage. The draft order was then advertised on 20 November 2025, with comments due by 11 December 2025.

Bar chart of the 2,705 responses to Westmorland and Furness Council's 2025 consultation on a 20mph scheme for Kendal: 40% supported it, 16% supported it with changes and 44% were against.
Chart by Kendal News. Source: Westmorland and Furness Council, 22 October 2025.
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The council’s 20mph programme page now lists Kendal among the 2025 to 2026 schemes the locality boards agreed to introduce. It says installation of the South Lakeland schemes “is due to begin this calendar year”.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes until the signs go up. The order is made, but a speed limit only applies once it is signed on the road.
  • Most journeys inside Kendal will be at 20mph, including the A6 through the centre and the one-way system.
  • Anyone who thinks the order is unlawful can apply to the High Court within six weeks of 3 November, so by 15 December. The notice says that challenge must be on legal grounds: that the order is outside the council’s powers, or that the required procedure was not followed.
  • The documents are on deposit at Kendal Library on Stricklandgate, and at Grange, Ulverston and Windermere libraries. The council will also send them by email to 20mph@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk.

Burneside, Grasmere and Crosscrake are in a later order, approved on 15 October, with signs due by the end of March 2027. We covered that in our report on the Burneside and Grasmere decision.