A FLINTSHIRE councillor has welcomed the fact that hundreds of applications have been made to undo controversial 20mph speed limits on roads in the county. 

The Leader reported last week how Flintshire Council had received more than 800 requests for roads in the county to revert to 30mph.

Buckley Councillor Mike Peers welcomed the figure, explaining: "That is good because it shows the level of feeling on the matter.

"I have put in 11 requests myself because, going by the Welsh Government criteria, I consider there have been a lot of roads wrongly designated as 20.

"People know when they are driving past schools or on housing estates where there may be children that they should drive slower.

"But when you have long stretches of road with no houses on either side and it's a 20, it doesn't feel right.

"Hopefully these applications will be listened to."

Cllr Peers said councillors received "quite a bit of grief" when Buckley was selected to be a pilot area for the 20mph scheme.

"People thought councillors introduced it," said Cllr Peers.

"That was as far from the truth as you could get.

"We are still fighting - one of those 800 applications is for the main A549 road through Buckley.

"That needs to be looked at because it's a main commuter and bus route.

"I just hope this road gets back to 30, where it should be."

The Welsh Government recently released revised guidance for local authorities on which types of roads should be subject to the controversial  20 speed limit. 

The guidance has been co-developed with highways authorities, the Welsh Local Government Association, and the County Surveyor’s Society for Wales, following a National Listening Programme led by the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport, Ken Skates. 

Following the announcement of the guidance, Flintshire Council's Chief officer for Streetscene and Transportation, Katie Wilby, said: “We welcome Welsh Government’s announcement that new guidance is being provided to support highway authorities when making decisions on local speed limits.

"The revised guidance provides a framework to support us as a highway authority to make the right decisions for local roads and to understand where 30mph speed limits can be applied, particularly when those calls are finely balanced.

“To date, we have received 855 requests for roads to be reverted to 30mph. Officers are currently in the process of reviewing these requests and are now able to commence the assessment process following the release of Welsh Government’s revised guidance.”