REPRESENTATIVES from North Wales councils, Transport for Wales, Arriva and the Welsh Government 20mph taskforce to discuss the controversial new speed limit. 

Representatives from councils across North Wales put forward their experiences of the new 20mph speed limits to those undertaking the Welsh Government’s review into the rollout. 

The meeting was organised by Carolyn Thomas, Member of the Senedd for North Wales, who has been concerned by the impact the new default speed limit has had along arterial routes. Local councils have the ability to vary speed limits as the highway authority, however, concerns have been raised about the lack of clarity regarding exemptions criteria as well as council liability. 

During the meeting, councillors explained that they have received positive feedback to lower speeds in residential areas but that there have been frustrations with certain main roads. It was also discussed that there has been disparity in the number of roads made back up to 30mph between councils and that the sharing of best practice would be a positive step forward. 

A representative from Arriva also attended the meeting and explained the impact of the new speed limits on bus service punctuality.

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 original (now U-turned) decision to cut out Llandegla village along the Services 51 and x51, Rhyl to Wrexham to make up the additional five minutes added to the journey time by newly implemented 20mph limits. 

Speaking after the meeting, she said: “I had attendance from all six North Wales Authorities in the group, the invitation was for them all to work with Gwynedd Council which had made more exemptions (85 roads) based on the current criteria.

"Some are very concerned about the strict current criteria and liability. There is concern about how long the Welsh Government taskforce review may take to be published, so Gwynedd Council offered to work with the other North Wales authorities on how they interpreted the criteria and were able to make more exemptions within the current guidelines."