A view from Mark Isherwood – Welsh Conservative North Wales Member of the Senedd

Wrexham.com has invited the four North Wales Members of the Senedd to write a monthly column with updates on their work. You can find their updates – along with contributions from the Wrexham and Clwyd South MPs and MSs – here. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

In his monthly column for Wrexham.com, Welsh Conservative MS Mark Isherwood writes.

Speed limits in built-up areas will be reduced from 30mph to 20mph in Wales from September – a UK first.

Welsh Government Ministers have said that lowering the default national speed limit to 20mph will lower road collisions and noise and encourage people to walk or cycle.

However, in areas where the new limit has been piloted, including Buckley in Flintshire, the feedback has not been positive.

Speaking in the Senedd Debate on a Petition to ‘Stop the change of speed limits to 20mph on 17th September’ at the end of last month, I pointed out that whilst this petition gained 21,920 signatures before being closed, one set up in Buckley, which was one of eight pilot areas across Wales to trial a default 20mph speed limit, had reached 58,546 signatures up until that point.

I said: “This reflects the real lived experience of people living in the North Wales pilot area, feeling sidestepped by the Deputy Minister who selected it”.

During the Debate, I quoted from the flood of e-mails I have received from residents of Buckley, which have included, ‘Many of these roads are busy access roads on steep hills. The lorries are struggling to get up the hills in such a low gear, and sticking to such a low speed downhill is hard on the brakes’.

A cyclist – one of many, wrote:- ‘Instead of overtaking and getting out of the way, these cars, vans and lorries will be driving close behind, in front or alongside me. This has not been thought through’.

Another resident said, ‘It’s doing the opposite of what it supposedly set out to do. There’s more pollution with cars chugging around in lower gears, people pay less attention to the road and more on the speedometer, leading to incidents on roads that previously had none’.

Another said ‘The so-called default scheme is a mistake, resulting in bad driving, near misses and increased pollution’.

I stressed that I am the Father and Grandfather of Buckley residents who accept the benefit of this on certain residential estates, but totally oppose what they perceive to be the quasi-blanket approach thus far adopted.

I told the Deputy Minister “Those people and their neighbours want to be heard.”

Prior to the vote on the Restricted Roads (20 mph Speed Limit) Order last July, which Labour and Plaid Cymru voted through, I challenged accident rate statistics put forward by the Minister for Climate Change.

The Minister referred to Police recorded road accidents for 2021, which she said show that “over half of all road accidents—53 per cent—occurred on 30 mph roads.

Pedestrians are five times more likely to be killed at 30 mph compared to 20 mph, and 52 per cent of all casualties were killed on 30 mph roads during 2019”.

Challenging the figures, I said: “Did you notice that 3 per cent of the accidents occur on 20 mph roads, but they only account for 2.5 per cent of roads in Wales? So, actually, the accident rate is higher by 0.5 per cent and pretty much aligned with the accident rate on 30 mph roads.”

Transport for Wales data estimates that the change will increase 20 mph speed limits from 2.5 per cent to 36.9 per cent of roads in Wales, whilst reducing 30 mph speed limits from 37.4 per cent to 3 per cent.

This would mean that the accident rate on 20 mph roads would approach 50 per cent, whilst falling to 4.2 per cent on 30 mph roads.

In pursuit of evidence-based road safety policies, the UK Department for Transport (DfT) published an authoritative 20mph Research Study in November 2018, which includes:

• The study has shown that the speed at which people drive is influenced more by the look and feel of the road, than whether a 20mph or 30mph limit is in place.
• This study has found no significant safety outcome (in terms of collisions and casualties) in residential areas, based on the post implementation data available to date.

Following this, a 2022 study from Queen’s University Belfast, Edinburgh University and the University of Cambridge found that reducing speed limits from 30mph to 20mph has had ‘little impact’ on road safety.

The implementation of this unpopular policy will adversely affect people’s daily lives, making their journeys longer and more difficult. Astonishingly, even the Labour Government’s own Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill acknowledged that this policy will impose a staggering cost of £4.5 billion on the Welsh economy.

As Welsh Conservative Shadow Transport Minister, Natasha Asghar MS, recently said: “The people of Wales strongly oppose the implementation of default 20mph speed limits. However, the Labour Government refuse to listen.”