Hundreds of villages to miss out on 20mph zones as community speed watch is axed
Opposition councillors say just 40 of 400 areas are set to see changes in the next few years
The rollout of 20mph speed zones is seen as a “disaster” as only around 40 out about 400 Gloucestershire villages and communities will benefit while the community speed watch is being quietly axed.
That is the view of opposition councillors who yesterday (May 13) quizzed Gloucestershire County Council chiefs over their safer roads and community 20s scheme.
Serious concerns were also raised during the meeting that a volunteer-led community initiaive which was set up to help reduce speeding by recording vehicle speeds with specialised devices will no longer be funded.
Shire Hall’s former leader Stephen Davies (C, Hardwicke and Severn) questioned how his Liberal Democrat successor could claim their policy is a success.
The Conservative also explained during the meeting that the reason his administration did not offer a 20mph across the whole county was because he knew the traffic regulation order (TRO) was broken.
These orders are legal documents used by councils to make changes to the road network such as restricting or regulating road usage such as speed limits, parking, and introducing one-way streets. However, making a TRO is a lengthy and costly process.
Councillor Davies said: “I understand about 400 parishes and local communities expressed an interest in 20 miles an hour. By my calculations, in all three phases announced only about 40 will see anything within two or three years.
“We may talk about TROs later and the disaster that that remains.
“How can she say this is a success? And then we hear that the community speed watch programme has been stopped.
“So those people not in the 20mph programme have nothing we can do for them.
“I don’t think that’s a successful policy. It’s a disaster.”
Council leader Lisa Spivey (LD, South Cerney) said she has “always been very honest” that it was not going to be a blanket scheme everywhere all at once.
She recognised there are communities who will be disappointed they are not going to get an immediate introduction of the 20mph limit.
But she criticised the previous Conservative administration over their inaction on implementing such a policy and said they asked for one “for the best part of ten years”.
“I guess we have some differing opinions on what measures of success are,” she said.
“When I became a councillor, one of the first motions we brought in 2021 around the Stockholm Convention,” she added.
“The previous administration refused to take any kind of action on it. So I am proud that we made it a priority.
“I am proud we did something about it and I am proud that we are beginning to roll it out.”
She said the council would look to allocate funding for the future year of this programme when they set a budget for the next year.
Cinderford’s Reform UK Councillor Ray Donaghue asked why the community speed watch was stopping as they have around five volunteers in the town and another three or four that want training.
“It’s a great way for the public to engage with problems around the speed and speed awareness without lowering the speed limit,” he said.
“It seems like a real shame because we are trying to get more public engagement, not less.”
Councillor Roger Whyborn (LD, Benhall and Up Hatherley), who holds the cabinet portfolio for road safety, confirmed the community speed watch is coming to a halt.
“To be fair, it was always planned to come to a halt,” he said.
“It was not infinitely budgeted. There’s no more money in it or being added to it.
“The reason is we cannot do everything at once.”
However, he explained the current budgeted 20mph zones would cover more than half of the county’s population.