A Blog to Penyffordd Cllrs - re 20 mph.

Dear Councillor

 You may be aware that in surveys conducted last year over 80% of members of the public were in favour of 20 mph for residential roads. This mirrors the developing view across the country that our current speed limit of 30 mph is just too high in residential areas where it is inevitable that vulnerable road users will be at greatest risk.

In fact, if we compare it with the speed limit in Northern European towns  it is 60% higher than the 30 kph (18.5 mph) limits that they have for residential streets. No wonder perhaps that 92% of pedestrian deaths are on urban roads in the UK and at 21% we have a higher proportion of pedestrian deaths on the roads than any of our European neighbours.

In Hilden, Germany, the setting of their 30 kph limit in the early 90's was the foundation of them encouraging cycling and walking. In fact now 23% of in-town trips are now made by children and adults using bikes instead of cars.

You may be wondering about how much this would slow down our car journeys and cause congestion. Well the campaign is only for residential streets to be changed with most A,B and arterial roads remaining at their current speed limits. As almost every house, office or school is within 1/3 mile of such an arterial road then the maximum increase in journey time would be just 40 seconds. Surely worth the benefit in lives and injuries saved.

You may also be wondering about the cost and inconvenience of all those speed bumps. Well many authorities are using changed Department of Transport guidance which encourages lower speeds to be set without necessarily involving physical calming. With education, consultation, social pressure and some enforcement, authorities such as Portsmouth have implemented a council wide default 20 mph limit for residential roads without any physical calming at all. Other authorities are taking Portsmouth as an example and Transport for London recently announced the intention for all London Boroughs to adopt 20 mph as the default for residential roads. Lewisham is expected to be the first to implement such a default.

Most significantly City Councillors in Norwich recently unanimously voted to have a default 20 mph in residential roads as priority for 2008/9. Such support from all local political parties shows how 20's Plenty is a universal aspiration for communities, constituents and politicians rather than a party political one.

And of course 20's Plenty saves lives. A recent PACTS (Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety) identified that child accidents fell by 67% where 20 mph schemes were introduced.

I do hope that Penyffordd people can rely upon their elected representatives to follow through this excellent policy for the sake of its communities. It would have all the following advantages :-

·    Encourage modal shift to walking and cycling leading to healthier children and adults.
·    Lower pollution
·    Lower noise
·    Create a better environment on residential roads
·    Save lives and injury

Most people involved in transport development recognise that, at some time, 20 mph will become the default speed limit for all residential roads in the UK. Penyffordd can "hang on" till such a time and in the intervening period vulnerable road users in Penyffordd will die or be injured as a result of such a delay. The sooner we adopt the 20's Plenty initiative then the greater the saving in lives and injury and the earlier the benefits in quality of life on our streets.
Penyffordd children and adults want and need 20 mph as a default speed limit in the roads where they live and 20's Plenty For Us will be continuing its campaign for early adoption of this life saving move.

I trust that our communities can count on your support for this initiative and that Penyffordd can be a "can do" council when it comes to taking such sensible steps to make all our lives better and safer.

Please let me know your thoughts and if I can assist in explaining the initiative, its benefits or its implementation then I would be very pleased to help.


Yours sincerely



Colin Hughes

postscript. A standard letter not my style but it gets the point over. Not many Penyffordd cllrs see this sort of vision which is why they should not be sitting around the council table in the first place.