The best thing for me about the lockdown was the reduction in traffic in our lanes. The benefit to wild flora and fauna, and to air quality was instant and significant.

People  could walk and cycle in our lanes with fear of injury or death. We connected more deeply with nature and saw up close the wonders of Devon banked wild gardens. The presence of people in the lanes also reduced remaining traffic speed and vehicles even began to pull over to let cyclists and pedestrians pass safely.

Can we preserve some of these positive affects as lockdown eases? On a local level could we not work to implement  a voluntary rural lanes code of conduct? Something along the lines of TAKING IT EASY IN DEVON LANES? On a national level could we gather support to lobby to reduce the  speed limit in country lanes to 30mph? Rural residents and visitors surely deserve the same safety rights as urban dwellers.

I'd love to nurture positive changes out of the lockdown.

Anna Tyrer