Background and objectives

Kencot has two quite distinct traffic problems – the B4477 to the north of the village, where cars sometimes reach over 60mph going round bends and through crossroads, and the lanes to the south, where even 30mph can be too fast given the lack of pavements.
In July 2016, therefore, the village set up KARS (Kencot Action for Road Safety), a committee of 11 people whose job was to improve safety for all users of Kencot’s roads.
After two and a half years, we’ve put in place the first phase of an ambitious traffic-calming scheme.  On the main road we’ve installed ‘Reduce Speed Now’ signs, gates to mark speed-limits and vehicle-activated signs (‘the flashy things’) to reinforce the 30mph limit with a visual shout of ‘SLOW DOWN’.  At the same time, the rest of the village has been made a 20mph zone, with ‘No Footway’ signs at each end of the most dangerous lane.
All this has been achieved after close and prolonged consultation with villagers. We carried out two referenda, the second of which got a magnificent 94% turnout, of which 84% approved our recommended plans and spending.
The cost of the whole scheme was £30,000, of which half came from hard-negotiated grants, with the other £15,000 being funded by the villagers themselves.  We have been strongly supported by Kencot’s Eventers (Jay Mathews and team) and are extremely grateful for generous individual contributions from an anonymous supporter and from Lizzie Connolly and Alastair Nicholas, John and Joy Coxeter, Alistair and Michelle Dinmore, Henry and Kate Fyson, Jane Fyson, Bea and Nick Gilbert, Mark and Jayne Hodds, Emad Hussein, Roy and Anne Jackson, Liz and David Johnson, Liz Lamb, Andrea Moss, Bridget Shirley, and Nigel and Lynda Walker.
We are now just £6,500 away from our funding target, and hope to have reached it by the summer.  Meanwhile, joint chairmanship of the KARS committee has passed into the highly capable hands of Phil Cairns, Joseph Jones and Lynda Walker.
Chris Bradshaw.                                                                                                 04.03.2019

Update June 2020                                                                                             
This is to let you know that we've decided to write off the last £2,500 of the KARS (Kencot Action for Road Safety) debt, leaving a modest £352 balance in the bank to go towards funding continuing activities.
We offer our warm thanks to everyone in and around the village who contributed so generously to the KARS fund – either as individuals or by supporting Eventers activities - and who, in doing so, made such a worthwhile project possible.