REPRESENTATIVES from Flintshire Council met with the Welsh Government over the 20mph speed limit.

Carolyn Thomas, Member of the Senedd for North Wales, facilitated the meeting having been concerned by the impact the new default speed limit has had along arterial routes.

The Welsh Government says that local councils have the ability to set speed limits as the highway authority, however, whilst this is the case, councils do not have the ability to disregard criteria and concerns have been raised about the lack of clarity regarding the exemptions criteria as well as council liability.

This has led to disparity across Welsh councils, with just 0.6 per cent of roads varied back up to 30mph in North Wales, compared to nearly 10 per cent in the city of Swansea. 

Carolyn Thomas MS has recently spoken out about the need to mitigate the impact to public transport links in the area as Arriva announced its decision to cut out Llandegla village along the Services 51 and x51, Rhyl to Wrexham to make up the additional 5 minutes added to the journey time by newly implemented 20mph limits. 

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The Member of the Senedd hopes the meeting is a positive step towards finding a partnership approach to such issues. 

Speaking after the meeting, she said: “A positive discussion took place, resolving conflict of interpretation regarding the rollout of the 20mph exemption criteria, with lessons learnt on both sides.

“I have also attended community meetings and have heard from some local residents their concerns about the new speed limits but have also heard from those who are pleased with the change. 

“I would like to encourage all those with a view to feed into the upcoming consultation regarding which roads should be kept at 20mph where it makes sense to do so, and which roads should be made back up to 30mph.” 

Commenting on the meeting today (January 24), First Minister Mark Drakeford added: “There are different views among the population. That is why the sort of meeting to which Carolyn Thomas referred, between the Welsh Government and the local authority, directly in the same room, sharing experiences and perspectives, will mean that the review is both meaningful, well informed, and will produce outcomes that will be shared between all of the parties.”