Concern That North Yorkshire Council’s Bid to Tackle Speeding ‘Lacks Ambition’

A councillor who is calling for more 20mph zones says a North Yorkshire Council review into how it tackles speeding “lacks ambition” and is “yet another delaying tactic”.

This week the council published a review into how it sets speed limits in North Yorkshire which concluded the current system is “fragmented and piecemeal”. The document will go before the council’s Conservative executive for approval next Tuesday.

It follows calls from councillors who have asked the council to introduce 20mph zones in towns and villages where a need has been identified.

But according to the councillor who proposed the motion, Green Party member for Ouseburn, Arnold Warneken, the review falls short of meeting councillors’ demands.

The review includes input from 33 councillors and recommends that a comprehensive speed management strategy is drawn up over the next six months that will seek to reduce speeding in the county’s towns and rural roads.

The council said this will generate a “rolling pipeline of safety improvement schemes for delivery.”

However, it also recommends that a default 20mph speed limits across North Yorkshire are not supported and that the criteria for introducing 20mph speed limits remains unchanged.

For the last couple of years, 20s Plenty campaigners have been putting pressure on councillors to adopt 20mph zones in towns and villages but the review recommends this is rejected due to “the often unique nature of different locations.”

Cllr Warneken said:

“How many residents, parishes, area constituency committees and councillors do we need to ask for the executive to listen to all of us concerned about road safety, health, wellbeing and air pollution?

“The report for consideration by the executive is to say the least disappointing, it lacks ambition and is yet another delaying tactic. There is no real substance to the NYC proposals.

“We cannot keep putting of taking action to make our roads safer for everyone, we cannot keep putting of taking action to protect our environment, we cannot keep putting of taking action that will prevent life changing injuries or worse still fatalities. If not now when?”

North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, said:

“The new council is taking an ambitious, proactive approach to setting speed limits, built on evidence and community empowerment.

“This will move away from setting limits in a piecemeal fashion, where we look at one road in one location at a single point in time.

“By taking a strategic view of a town or village we will ensure speed limits there are effective and be able to identify positive changes in partnership with local communities.

“We cannot review all locations immediately, and resources will need to be prioritised, but our approach will deliver real improvements across all parts of the county over time, addressing concerns, improving safety and saving lives.”

The council say the review consulted with all 90 elected North Yorkshire councillors, with most supporting lower speed limits around schools and high-footfall areas.

However the council says that concern was expressed by councillors about a suggested default 20mph speed limit, while those in favour of this were not unanimous about where a default limit should apply.

Cllr Duncan added:

“What started as a review into 20mph limits became more encompassing, as we looked seriously at ways to improve the way we set speed limits generally.

“Following cross-party feedback and a review of experiences elsewhere, we are not proposing to introduce 20mph as the default speed limit in every town and village.

“However, we recognise the key role 20mph speed limits and zones play in terms of road safety, active travel and wellbeing, and our new approach will allow more of these to be introduced over time.

“In all cases, new 20mph limits and zones will comply with Department for Transport guidelines and have community support after public consultation.

“20mph limits will be fully embedded into our new approach, while ensuring these are not the only option that can be considered to improve road safety.

“In summary, our approach appreciates the diverse nature of North Yorkshire’s communities rather than assuming one size fits all locations.”