Plaid Cymru councillors welcome review of 20mph locally but ask ‘why has the council changed its tune?’

Plaid Cymru councillors in Wrexham have welcomed further consideration of exemptions to the current 20mph speed limit in built-up areas – but say the council has u-turned on limits on arterial roads.

Yesterday Wrexham.com reported how Lead Member Cllr Hugh Jones had ordered a review into areas where 20MPH zone may not be appropriate, and challenged Welsh Government to update guidance to help Wrexham Council do that.

Cllr Carrie Harper, who previously raised concerns about the ‘blanket imposition’ locally , said: “It’s now a fortnight since the 20mph speed limit was introduced in urban settings across Wales. Before it was introduced we raised our concerns locally about the fact that every road in Wrexham town, for example, was going down to 20mph when it can be argued that arterial roads such as Cefn Road, Chester Road, Holt Road and Mold Road could be exempted.

“The experience of the past fortnight bears out that analysis and it’s good to hear that the council is now reviewing the situation.

“We questioned Wrexham Council about their reasoning for these specific arterial routes and the answer given 10 days ago was that some of these key routes into the town centre could at some point have active travel routes alongside them. It’s true there are consultations ongoing for active travel routes on Mold Road, Chester Road, Holt Road and Kingsmills Road but the current financial situation facing the Welsh Government makes it unlikely they will all come to fruition. Pre-emptively dropping the speed to 20mph seems to be putting the cart before the horse.

“So why has the council changed its tune just 10 days later?”

Cllr Harper said Plaid Cymru in Wrexham wanted a “meaningful consultation” with residents after revealing that just 55 people responded to the original consultation – a figure Wrexham.com has asked for but was not provided by Wrexham Council.

Cllr Harper said, “There was a very brief consultation in August that concluded on September 1st. As a result of that, two roads that were changed down from 30mph to 20mph as a result of residents’ pressure but I think we need to continually review this in the light of actual experience of driving and living along these routes. There’s general consensus about 20mph being fine on residential streets, estates and outside schools or medical facilities. So that leaves those arterial roads between villages and into town.

“We’ve collected a number of examples from across the county borough and will be submitting them to the Highways Department for consideration. Before we do that, we’d like local residents to put forward their suggestions for specific roads – you can do so by contacting [email protected] with full details of those roads.”