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Former Welsh minister takes speed limit and active travel message down under

26 Aug 2024 8 minute read
Former deputy minister for climate change Lee Waters.

Emily Price

Former deputy minister for climate change Lee Waters has spent the summer down under advising Australian politicians on how they can follow Wales’ lead on transport reforms.

The man who was instrumental in implementing Wales’ 20mph default speed limit quit his ministerial position earlier this year when Vaughan Gething took over from Mark Drakeford as First Minister.

After stepping down, he was recognised as an “unsung hero” in the ENDS Report Power List for his contribution to environmental causes.

Over the Senedd recess, the Llanelli MS was invited to take part in a number of events giving advice on how Australia can reach net zero by 2050 – a target which government ministers in Wales also hope to achieve.

He met with several prominent figures including Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore, former New South Wales Transport and Planning Minister, Rob Stokes and Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen.

Mr Waters also met with Wallabies flanker David Pocock who is now a senator.

He told Australian politicians that “now is the time to follow through the evidence with action” when it comes to climate change.

Change

In a special presentation to the Australian Parliament Mr Waters explained how a mode shift to active travel could help the country meet its climate emissions reduction targets.

The Senedd politician opened his speech by encouraging ministers to break their carbon targets into five year cycles as the Welsh Government has done.

He said: “We know from our advisers that to get to 2050 we have to make rapid change in the next ten years. In fact in the next ten years we need to make deeper cuts than we have made in the whole course of the last 30 years put together which is mind bowing.”

Mr Waters said the first carbon budget was achieved “with ease” by closing down coal-fired power stations – but “that can’t be done twice”.

He said that Wales’ current carbon budget is “doable” but the one after that in 2026 will be a “toughie”.

In terms of transport, Mr Waters said that there are things the Australian government can do immediately – the most effective being active travel investment – particularly in urban areas.

The former transport minister said: “We talk a lot about how difficult it is to change transport behaviour – Australia is a vast country. But most journeys are not like that. Most journeys are under five miles. In the UK, 10 per cent of journeys are under one mile.

“Those of the kind of journey you can shift with relative ease with the right infrastructure and behaviour change programmes which will bring you both an immediate carbon benefit, but all sorts of other benefits around social equity, mental wellbeing and general health.”

Easy

Mr Waters, a keen cyclist himself, said that active travel shouldn’t be framed by politicians a “nice to do” at the weekend, but as a day to day mode of transport. 

He said: “People will do what’s easy. If we simply appeal to people to be green hero or tree huggers – we will fail. What we need to do is make it easy. For 70 years we’ve made jumping into a car the easiest way of getting around.”

In Wales, the government put the breaks on all of its transport schemes in order to test them against its climate targets.

Many of the projects had been several years in the making and were created at a time when policy priorities were different.

An independent roads review was set up which recommended tougher tests for deciding when new roads are the right answer.

Of the fifty transport projects awaiting the green light, the Welsh Government cancelled all but 15 of them.

Mr Waters told the Australian Parliament that the case for many of the schemes “just didn’t stack up”.

One of the project cancelled was the controversial Flintshire Red Route would have seen a £350m stretch of two-way dual carriageway which would have destroyed ancient woodland.

Lee Waters speaks to Parliament on Transforming Welsh Transport 19.8.24 from WeRideAustralia on Vimeo.

Congestion

But the scheme’s own business case showed that in 15 years time the congestion levels would be back up to where they are now.

The former transport minister said: “You can’t build your way out of congestion because when you build more capacity you generate more demand.

“We are seeing this in schemes right across Australia where a huge amount of money has been put in to ease congestion and reduce bottlenecks – but very quickly fill back up with traffic again.”

Mr Waters explained that the carbon used to build new roads is often not counted in government formulas despite the steel and concrete used being a huge contributor to carbon.

In order to make up for the carbon used to build one medium cost road, 2,700 drivers would have to give up their cars for ten years.

The former deputy minister said that questioning key assumptions isn’t popular – and that’s why political leadership is required.

He said: “Given the climate emergency the planet is now facing – this is a time for political capital to be spent because we will not be forgiven by future generations knowing what we know about the evidence if we fail to act.

“The reaction to the roads review was a lot tamer than I was expecting. What wasn’t tame was the reaction to lowering speeds in urban areas.”

Mr Waters faced backlash from the public following the roll out of the 20mph default speed limit on restricted roads in Wales last year.

Since the 1930’s in the UK the default speed limit in urban areas has been 30mph.

20mph 

Mr Waters oversaw a plan to shift the default in Wales to 20mph allowing councils to make the case for keeping some roads at 30mph where it makes sense.

Where similar policies have been rolled out in London and Edinburgh, data has shown a 40 per cent reduction in road casualties.

The new default proved unpopular with the Welsh public and a record breaking Senedd petition calling for the policy to be axed gained almost half a million signatures.

Mr Waters said: “We are almost a year into the speed limit and there has been a lot of protests – but the quiet majority are simply getting on with it and average speeds are down. But there has been lot of friction – a lot of it directed at me.”

Australian politicians could be heard giggling as the former transport minister showed some examples of his 20mph “fan base” which included a Daily Mail article branding the his policy “insane” and graffiti on his constituency office labelling him “scum”.

He said: “It’s gets to the point where you do need some humour to get through this – but the data is doing exactly what we thought it would do.”

Newly published figures for the first six months of the 20mph policy shows overall casualties in Wales are lower than they were during Covid, making it “worth the grief”, Mr Waters said.

Swansea University’s psychology department carried out a study on attitudes and the doubles standards the public have after 70 years of normalising behaviour around the use of cars.

The research, which is about to be repeated in Australia, asked a sample of 2000 a series of questions including whether they agreed that people shouldn’t smoke in highly populated areas – 75 per cent said they agreed.

Asked whether people shouldn’t be able to drive in highly populated areas where others have to breath in the fumes – on 17 per cent agreed.

Deaths

Mr Waters said: “We accept when it comes to cars a set of deaths that we would not accept if it was on ferries or trains or busses. We’ve normalised it. We shrug our shoulders, it’s the price of doing business – and it’s outrageous.

“Because of the environment we are in and the attitudes of our peers we now accept a set of adverse consequences and a set of attitudes that we shouldn’t and we wouldn’t in any other walk of life.

“And politically that does make changes to transport particularly uncomfortable and difficult to do. But if we don’t tackle transport emissions, we will not hit our carbon budgets, and if we don’t hit our carbon budgets, we won’t get to net zero.

“When scientists are using words like “catastrophic climate change’ then we must act.

“The message from Wales is, it can be done. It’s not easy, it’s not comfortable but once you’ve done it the world moves on and the sky doesn’t fall in.”


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Billy James
Billy James
3 months ago

Hope our climate warrior did not fly over to Australia………

Phil Jones
Phil Jones
3 months ago
Reply to  Billy James

Why? Better one more plane journey if it saves millions of car journeys.

J Jones
J Jones
3 months ago
Reply to  Billy James

He’ll be remembered for his 20mph farce, despite his desire to be seen as someone who got rid of Gething, but that would have happened anyway with Hannah Blythyn getting the ultimate revenge.

The degree in politics that Walters did should not exist, they should do a proper degree and prove themselves in a proper career to qualify for national government. Fortunately a few career politicians will be looking for a new career in 2 years time after the next senedd elections.

westisbest
westisbest
3 months ago

carbon footprint…. can’t he just explain over Teams

Mab Meirion
Mab Meirion
3 months ago

Aboard a three hundred seater pedalo…

hdavies15
hdavies15
3 months ago
Reply to  Mab Meirion

A 1st class pedalo for a 1st class bigot.

Linda Jones
Linda Jones
3 months ago

Lets hope the Aussies don’t need advice on the importance of a first class public transport system to get people out of their cars and into work or leisure. Cycling clearly doesn’t suit the many hence the massive volume of cars on our roads. The 20mph is irrelevant on this issue. Cardiff, our capital city, doesn’t even have a decent bus service, neither does anywhere else in Wales. The cycling lobby clearly have a hold on the Senedd and to the dismay of the many they are successfully selling the idea that its safe to put pedestrians and cyclists in… Read more »

Welsh Patriot
Welsh Patriot
3 months ago

Lee Waters who has a second house in Penarth, where he claims all the utilities bills via MS expenses, but not the rent or mortgage. So presumably he will sell it when he sell up when he ceases being a MS in 2026.
Lee Waters who commutes from Llanelli to Penarth on a regular basis in his large SUV type vehicle.
Lee Waters who fly’s from the UK to Australia to tell them about our wonderful 20 mph speed limits, but forget to mention how our FM was banned from driving for not being able to stick to 30 mph.

Lee
Lee
3 months ago
Reply to  Welsh Patriot

Um, it’s an electric car and actually I usual come by train with my folding bike.

As for living on two places this is something every single person who has represented Llanelli has had to do. I could claim for a flat, but I don’t.

CapM
CapM
3 months ago
Reply to  Lee

What were the reasons that travelling to Australia was essential rather than video presentations and online conferencing?

Johnny Gamble
Johnny Gamble
3 months ago
Reply to  Lee

Lee I would just like to point out that there are people in The Llanelli area who do commute to Cardiff.

Welsh Patriot
Welsh Patriot
3 months ago
Reply to  Lee

“I could claim for a flat, but I don’t.”
But you still claim for everything bar the rent or the mortgage, a handy way to purchase a second property that’s not open to the ordinary folk of Wales.
I wonder did Angela Rayner give you property tips on owning a second home!

Jack
Jack
3 months ago

Australian cities sprawl over huge spaces – 20mph there would be ridiculous.

Annette Jones
Annette Jones
3 months ago

Lee, did you also tell them that a year into 20mph and the very people you are being paid to serve are still protesting? That they broke Senedd records with the biggest petition in WG history? That it’s triggered a whole new awakening to the goings on at the Senedd, whereby people who didn’t used to question decisions made by the Welsh Government, now are? That they are refusing to “get used to it”, as you so publically and so often told them they would? That since the implementation of the 20mph legislation, the police accident figures, published by the… Read more »

jim
jim
3 months ago

In respect of active travel, the Netherlands shows that it has a minimal effect on traffic levels. They have similar car ownership, pollution and congestion to the UK. They do however have lower average car occupancy!

The UK has the worst highway network in Europe. If building roads was the problem we should have the lowest traffic levels.

CapM
CapM
3 months ago
Reply to  jim

You must be referring to a different “Netherlands” than the the one mentioned in
ODiN, the Dutch National Travel Survey and
Active travel lessons from the world’s most cycle-friendly city
https://environmentjournal.online/

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