Calls to extend a 20mph trial into areas of Hambleton have been rejected as a roads boss emphasised that the multitude of concerns being raised by communities over speeding vehicles in towns and villages were being taken seriously.
Eight members of the 14-councillor North Yorkshire County Council Thirsk and Malton Constituency Committee voted against following its Harrogate and Selby counterparts in recommending a trial of default 20mph zones in built-up areas.
Despite approving a revised 20mph policy last year, as a result of the previous recommendations, the council has launched a extensive review over the issue, but some campaigners have expressed frustration over the probe, saying it will come too late to fund default 20mph zones in this year’s budget.
At a meeting of the constituency committee in Malton, several members of 20s Plenty unfurled a length of paper stretching three-quarters of the way around the council chamber to illustrate the different stopping distances between vehicles at 30mph and 20mph.
Campaigner Ian Conlan told the committee by reducing the default speed limit for built-up areas to 20mph, it would lead to 65 people not being hit by a vehicle in North Yorkshire annually.
Proposing the motion, Councillor Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff, who was elected as member of the Hunmanby and Sherburn division last May, said: “Since I’ve been a member of this authority the most common theme across every village I represent is the concern around speeding.”
She said it was clear that some 30mph limits were not appropriate.
Coun Donohue-Moncrieff said: “This is not an anti-car motion. This is how do we manage or negotiate all road users to access our towns and move around the county in general.”
Amotherby and Ampleforth division councillor Steve Mason added: “Every single village I have spoken to is calling for action on speeding and most of them want a 20mph limit in their village, who we are not listening to as far as I can see.”
However, the meeting heard other councillors support the council’s ongoing review of urban speed limits and question whether 20mph limits were arbitrary, with suggestions that 40mph might be more appropriate in some areas and no vehicles whatsoever in others.
Other members said while the safety of residents was paramount, introducing default 20mph limits would not be universally popular across one of England’s largest and most rural constituencies.
Councillor Keane Duncan, the authority’s executive member for highways and transport, said “quite grand claims” had been made about the level of public support for 20s Plenty and that no county council committee had voted to pursue “a one-size-fits-all” approach.
He said it was also important to recognise the diverse nature of North Yorkshire.
The executive member added he recognised the concerns being raised over vehicle speeds in built-up areas and that all 90 elected members of the authority would be invited to share their opinions as part of the authority’s review.
Coun Duncan said while 20s Plenty wanted him to conclude the road safety review ahead of the budget being set so £1m could be put aside for a 20mph trial, he was not going to be rushed into agreeing “one defined outcome that has been put forward by one pressure group”.
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