20mph speed-limit consultation pushed back to autumn

Richard Evans, local democracy reporter

A public consultation on the default 20mph speed limit, called for in a petition, will not take place until the autumn, senior councillors have been told.

Conwy’s cabinet met to discuss an e-petition from residents, calling on the council to use its powers to consult the public on which roads should be exempt from the default 20mph speed limit.

The matter had been discussed at an earlier economy and place scrutiny committee meeting earlier this month, following Welsh Government bringing in the national default 20mph limit in September.

Cabinet member for roads Cllr Goronwy Edwards explained the situation.

Ongoing review

“This petition came to economy and place (scrutiny committee), asking us to hold a public consultation regarding the 20mph roll-out in Conwy,” he said.

“Currently there is an ongoing review. The Welsh Government has appointed a body to look at the criteria for reviewing the 20mph process and will come to their conclusions by late spring.

“It will be going to Welsh Government in the early autumn, and until then we are not in a position to judge how to review these 20mph limits.”

He added, “There is a process where members of the public and town and community councillors can email the environment, roads, and facilities department and raise their concerns and make observations.

“We’ve had to date about 200 (correspondences) since I announced it in the economy and place (scrutiny committee), pointing out different areas of concern, and our officers are evaluating those. Once we’ve had the revised criteria, which will hopefully be in the early autumn. we will bring it back to cabinet to decide whether we need to go to a further consultation or whether we can act on the information we have gathered by then.”

Online map

Lead petitioner Cllr Louise Emery said she hoped a public consultation could have taken the form of an interactive online map, keeping costs to a minimum.

Cllr Emery said earlier this month that not all former 30mph roads needed to be 20mph, describing the new speed limit as sometimes ‘painful’.

She said, “It is a shame it is going to be early autumn, but I don’t see us being able to have it any quicker.”

The cabinet agreed to revisit the conversation in the autumn after the Welsh Government review and further discussions between Cllr Edwards and Cllr Emery.