FLINTSHIRE Council has urged the Welsh Government to review the 20mph scheme in Buckley as "matter of urgency".

County councillors from Buckley met with Senior Officers of Flintshire County Council on Thursday, whereby it was agreed to request that Welsh Government review the scheme - which has seen all roads (except the A549) in Buckley, Mynydd Isa, Bryn-Y-Baal, Drury and New Brighton reduced to 20mph. 

It forms part of a Welsh Government pilot scheme - with the plan to role out 20mph across all residential roads in Wales in the next year. 

There has been a backlash to the scheme from hundreds of local people, and Lee Waters, Minister for Climate Change has admitted the Welsh Government may have got it wrong. 

READ MORE: Welsh Government Minister apologises to Buckley residents over 'not good enough' 20mph pilot

"I'm happy to admit that we haven’t done a good enough job with it in Buckley," he said. 

"When we launched the pilot we said would use this as opportunity to learn lessons to shape the national rollout. We will draw lessons from Buckley and the other seven settlements to look again at the approach for exceptions and review the criteria including for main arterial roads, such as Liverpool Road in Buckley."

He added: “We’ll learn from it and we’ll use that learning to change the main rollout next year.”

The Leader:

The Leader of Flintshire Council, Councillor Ian Roberts, said: “Whilst we support Welsh Government’s rollout of a 20mph speed limited in residential areas and busy pedestrian streets, we have listened to concerns from local residents since the implementation of a 20mph speed limit in Buckley and have asked Welsh Government to consider reviewing the exceptions criteria that led to the introduction of a 20mph speed limit on the main arterial roads.

“Given the extent of the feedback received from the local community, we are pleased that the Deputy Minister has acknowledged this feedback and said that whilst 20mph is currently the default, Welsh Government will look at the speed limit on main arterial roads by reviewing the exceptions criteria prior to the scheme being rolled out further across Wales in 2023.  We appreciate that the matter is attracting increasing attention within the local community and have requested that the matter be dealt with as a high priority.

“The Council will work with Welsh Government to lead any future community engagement to ensure that local residents are given the opportunity to provide their input in to any proposed changes to the exceptions criteria.”

The Leader: Council leader, Ian Roberts. Council leader, Ian Roberts.

Flintshire’s Chief Executive, Neal Cockerton, added: “I am aware of the contribution made by local councillors in Buckley who have been receiving a high volume of enquiries.  I therefore welcome Welsh Government’s decision to consider the exceptions criteria as a matter of urgency so that matters in relation to this can be further clarified and progress made."

Buckley county councillors are calling for a re-consultation on the matter.

Councillor Richard Jones said: “It must also be noted that this scheme is purely a Welsh Government initiative and that Buckley Councilllors attempts to include arterial/distributor roads within the scheme was not acceptable once the Welsh Government Exception Criteria was applied.

“Buckley Councillors have made every effort to mitigate the effects of the present scheme but now look to Welsh Government to make the necessary changes.”

He added: “Most people would understand the benefits of residential areas being 20mph, for many reasons from improvements to the safety around our homes to the reduction in residential traffic noise.

“On that basis the original scheme was good, but where it went pear-shaped, was when Welsh Government intervened and progressed their scheme to include all roads, overriding local exemptions.” 

READ MORE: Buckley Town Council 'ignored' over 20mph scheme

Councillor Jones continued: “Of course it has resulted in the local outcry that has focussed minds and actions of the people of Buckley towards ‘getting this changed’.

“We are quite an outspoken bunch in Buckley especially when provoked, and that is to our benefit.

“If Welsh Government wanted to trial this scheme, to understand the feeling of local people, then I believe they have got their answer, this is our best chance making change to national policy and the minds of the members of the Senedd.”