Campaign to Revoke 20mph Traffic Order
Updated: September 2024
The Welsh Government’s regulations that change most 30mph speed restrictions to 20mph, came into force in September 2023. There was significant public reaction, including a petition on the Senedd website with nearly half a million signatures opposing the move.
I voted against the regulations and as Welsh Conservatives, we have committed to reversing the Welsh Governments 20mph speed limit regulations.
In my view, while in some areas a reduced speed limit is appropriate, such as outside schools, and other busy areas, I firmly believed that the Welsh Government simply needed to make the process much easier for reducing speed limits in areas where there was concern, and where there was community support, rather than bringing forward the default policy in the way they did.
In many cases I have requested a change to 20mph myself, the default 20mph introduction has had overall, a serious negative impact in my view.
I conducted my own survey by asking the people of Montgomeryshire to rate the Welsh Governments rollout of their default 20mph policy, with 0 being very dissatisfied and 10 being very satisfied. 77% of respondents to my survey rated the rollout as being below 3, meaning that over three-quarters of respondents were dissatisfied with the Welsh Governments approach.
Due to the public response and pressure, the Welsh Government said that while it “continues to believe that 20 mph is the right speed limit in places such as near schools, hospitals, nurseries, community centres, play areas and in built-up residential areas” it is “pressing ahead with refining the policy”.
The Cabinet Secretary who is now responsible, set out his plans to engage with the public and to achieve “the right speeds on the right roads’’.
The review has now concluded, but I am not satisfied myself that this work considered and represented the views of the whole of Wales. The Welsh Government say that the findings of this report will feed into the development of its 'new exceptions guidance', which was published in July.
The Welsh Government after publishing, have said that the new guidance provides a framework to support highways authorities with decisions on where to reverse the speed limit, after the Cabinet Secretary Ken Skates confirmed earlier this year that the default 20mph needed to be “corrected”. The Government has said the new guidance would help highways authorities to “make the right decisions for local roads, particularly when those calls are finely balanced”. I am cautious over these remarks, but I hope that the views of residents are listened to.
The Government say that the new aim will be to have the 20mph speed limits where pedestrians and cyclists frequently use the roads alongside vehicles unless strong evidence supports that higher speeds are safe.
The guidance also asks authorities to weigh the pros and cons of raising the speed limit, considering factors including distance from amenities, the impact on bus routes, and housing density in the area. The new framework will be in use from September 2024 and the numbers of roads reviewed is expected to vary considerably depending on the volume of feedback received by each highway authority. Highways authorities also have access to an additional £5m funding for this financial year to change speed limits.
Montgomeryshire residents can email Powys County Council with their suggestions, along with reasons, why a particular road should change from 20mph to 30mph, change from 30mph to 20mph or support staying at 20mph. All feedback will then be considered against the parameters within the guidance recently published by Welsh Government setting 30mph limits on restricted roads.
Any section of road deemed suitable for a change, either back to 30mph or down to 20mph, will be collated, identified on a map and shared with local Councillors for any further comment. Following this, any recommendations to change the speed limits will then be subject to a legal statuary traffic regulation order (TRO) process, which will include a public consultation, before any changes are implemented.
If you want to contact Powys County Council with any view, please email traffic@powys.gov.uk