We are residents of The Street — and people who live beside, work on, or spend a significant part of our lives on this road. We want lower speeds and a safer village. But the scheme Surrey County Council is planning raises problems that must be addressed before construction begins in autumn 2026.

We call on Surrey County Council and Compton Parish Council to remove speed cushions from the proposed traffic calming scheme on The Street, Compton; to properly inform and engage the residents most directly affected before any construction proceeds; and to discharge all statutory heritage and environmental duties that have so far been ignored.

Speed cushions were never part of what residents were asked about. SCC's 2025 engagement showed raised tables. Eight sets of speed cushions — placed exclusively along The Street, directly outside people's homes — were added after the engagement closed, without telling a single affected resident. The 85% support for 20mph that SCC cites as its mandate was a vote for lower speeds, not for this intervention, which was never put to us.

Residents near potholes on The Street have already experienced what a single unplanned vertical impact point does to noise, vibration, and daily life. The scheme proposes eight sets of permanent ones. Every property on The Street falls within the zone of adverse impact — some within ten metres of a speed cushion. The people who will live with the consequences are the last to have been told.

This is also a designated conservation area within the Surrey Hills National Landscape, with 31 listed buildings. No heritage assessment has been carried out. Historic England has confirmed in writing it has not been contacted. SCC's own policy warns against vertical traffic calming on busy roads close to residential properties — precisely because of noise and vibration. No exception to that policy has been published or justified.

We ask the Parish Council not to endorse this scheme in its current form. Residents of The Street have not been properly informed about what is planned and have had no genuine opportunity to respond to it. Speed cushions must be removed from the scheme until residents have been meaningfully engaged on material changes, a heritage assessment has been completed, and Surrey County Council can demonstrate that it has properly considered all the impacts on the people who live here — not just vehicle speed. Safer roads and a village worth living in are not in conflict. We want both.