Responsibility for 20mph speed limit a ‘hospital pass’ says Labour council leader
Nicholas Thomas, local democracy reporter
A local authority was thrown a “hospital pass” when handed responsibility for dealing with controversial speed limit changes, its leader has said.
Dimitri Batrouni, the Labour leader of Newport City Council, said the switch to 20mph wasn’t initially local authority-led policy, but “then it was devolved to councils, conveniently”.
His comments were made at a cabinet meeting on Monday January 13, where members agreed to start returning stretches of 16 city roads back to higher 30mph speed limits.
Citizens ‘strength of feeling’
The process follows the Welsh Government’s switch to a national default speed limit of 20mph in September 2023, which prompted protests and a record-breaking petition to the Senedd.
In 2024, the Government launched a “national listening programme” for citizens to have their say on which roads they thought should be changed back to higher speeds.
Those who took part in Newport proposed more than 300 changes, but the vast majority of those suggested for alterations did not comply with government guidance.
Councillor Batrouni said the 20mph speed-limit “evokes a lot of passion, either way”.
He added that he wasn’t surprised that so many Newport residents had taken part in the consultation on subsequent changes.
Councillor Rhian Howells, who led the review, said the council was “aware of the strength of feeling” around the policy. She noted that those who took part in the consultation had suggested roads where 20mph should be maintained, as well as roads where 30mph should be reinstated.
Reinstating 30mph
The roads expected to change back to 30mph in Newport are:
Bassaleg Road (part)
Caerphilly Road (part)
Bettws Lane (part)
Duffryn Drive
Duffryn Way
Frederick Street
George Street
Lighthouse Road (part)
Morgan Way
Royal Oak Hill (part)
Tredegar House Drive
Tregwilym Road (part)
Usk Road (part)
Wern Industrial Estate
West Nash Road (part)
Wharf Road
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Swansea and Gwynedd had dozens of exemptions at the start. They got the memo, so why didn’t other councils.
I sincerely hope that the good citizens and parents of Newport do not have cause to regret increased speed limits on some of their roads.
In a worst-case scenario, and a child or adult dies, where will legal responsibility lie?
Powys put in more orders than the entirety of North Wales combined, there is opposition but far less than other areas and there are likely to be areas that have come to light since but the real question for authorities with large numbers of exemptions at this point is why did they not do it last summer?