Parish Council
A version of this report also appeared in the August edition of The Beacon.
Whilst holidaying in Wales last month, I was interested by the 20mph limits in all the towns and cities I visited. Moreover, I was impressed by the overall adherence to the new limits. It took a bit of getting used to, and it really did feel slow. However, it didn’t cause much inconvenience and we adjusted travel times to cope with the extra couple of minutes in each case.
There has been some significant political response to it, with the largest petition ever presented to their Senedd. However, changes like this always cause friction: can you remember the seatbelt laws, or the drink driving legislation that impinged on the freedom of the drivers ?
The Welsh Senedd has agreed to look again at the limits, but they won’t disappear. Their research has shown that there has been gradual approval by drivers and residents. There has been a higher take-up of active travel ( walking, cycling and public transport). There haven’t been the discernible changes yet in local air quality that were expected, but there haven’t been real concerns over journey times, as traffic now flows better. There is a reduction in traffic noise. There is a hope that individual drivers will see a reduction in fuel consumption. Perhaps it is too early to draw any conclusions about collisions and road accidents, but we all know that pedestrians have a far better chance of surviving a lower-speed bump.
Sticklepath has taken a lead, but there are other Parish Councils across Dartmoor now encouraging voluntary 20mph limits with advisory signs through their villages.
However, the best response is to have local drivers reducing their speed through these villages, and thus holding up any drivers who do not seem to consider the affect they have on others or of the risks they are creating.
Cllr D Moore
Ps in the meantime, the flashing 30mph sign will continue until the manufacturers fulfil their repair contract.