11. The Restricted Roads (20 mph Speed Limit) (Wales) Order 2022

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:13 pm on 12 July 2022.

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Photo of Sam Rowlands Sam Rowlands Conservative 5:13, 12 July 2022

Very generous of you, Llywydd. I will not mention it again. [Laughter.]

So, as Natasha Asghar mentioned, we certainly support letting our councils put 20 mph speed limits outside schools, hospitals and other areas, and I've certainly seen that impact on the school my daughters go to, where I've seen that safety for them outside that school, especially at busy times of the day, is important. But this blanket approach across our communities, across urban roads in Wales, without recognising the vast differences in our communities, seems to me like a knee-jerk reaction. This may work in city centres where there's good infrastructure, good public transport in place, but many of our villages and towns that are linked by 30 mph roads at the moment simply do not have that same transport system, the same connectivity, the same infrastructure—it's nothing like Cardiff, it's nothing like Swansea, Minister. These rural villages and towns are going to be suffering because of this.

As we know, the Welsh Government's currently trialling this scheme across areas in Wales, including, as the Member for Alyn and Deeside pointed out, in Buckley in north Wales, where I had the pleasure of meeting up with residents and local representatives last week. In meeting with those residents in Buckley who've had the speed trial in place there, they highlighted to me a number of issues that they believe they noted with their eyes and noted around them. They believe they see a higher level of pollution, they've observed more accidents and more delays. And they also feel that Government have not been listening to them and to their concerns through this process. And they're concerned about the level of pollution, because what they observe is cars and drivers having to drive in a lower gear, churning out more fumes. They believe they've seen more accidents, because they believe they've seen more drivers distracted with having to try and live within this new speed limit. And they've also seen some significant risks—I'll give way in just one moment, Jenny Rathbone—they've also seen significant risks in their interactions with cyclists as well, because they're now actually seeing cyclists overtaking cars, which seems a bit ridiculous. Jenny.