Ministers promise 20mph speed limit review

The Welsh government has pledged to "continuously review the impact" of its new default 20mph speed limit.

The change comes into force on restricted roads across Wales on Sunday 17 September.

During a lively and angry debate on Wednesday, Labour and Plaid Cymru Senedd members clashed with Welsh Conservative politicians.

A non-binding Welsh Conservatives motion urging ministers to repeal the legislation failed to pass.

However a Plaid Cymru amendment calling for the impact of the change to be "continuously reviewed" passed with the backing of Labour ministers and backbenchers.

Conservative Member of the Senedd (MS) Tom Giffard accused the Welsh government of a "war on motorists", while Labour and Plaid Cymru accused the Welsh Conservatives of populism and political opportunism.

Last year, the Senedd voted to make Wales the first nation in the UK to adopt 20mph as the default speed limit on restricted roads.

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It means most roads that are currently 30mph (50km/h) will become 20mph (32kmh), although councils have been able to impose exemptions and have done so.

Whilst the Welsh Conservatives agree that the speed limit should be set at 20mph outside schools and hospitals, the party is opposed to setting that as the default limit on all restricted roads.

Its transport spokeswoman Natasha Asghar said the public "do not want this costly, ill-thought-out, disastrous blanket 20 mph speed limit project" and she accused the government of having an "anti-driver mentality".

Labour MS Huw Irranca-Davies said Welsh Conservative MSs were "now dying in a populist ditch to halt a policy designed to stop people dying or being injured on our roads".

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said the Welsh Conservatives' opposition to the policy was "ideological and politically-motivated".

However he also raised concerns about the way the change has been rolled-out and called on ministers to "understand and reflect on people's concerns".

The deputy minister for climate change Lee Waters said the Conservatives had been "against every progressive reform in this country" and have always been "on the wrong side of history".

As well as calling on ministers to "continuously review" the impact of the change, the amended motion called on the government to "empower local authorities to make any further exemptions and provide local authorities with adequate funding to facilitate the introduction of new limits".

It was passed by 38 votes to 15.

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