Ludlow mayor calls for action on 20mph speed limits

Tim Gill, mayor of Ludlow, said requests from his town council for speed limits to be lowered had been passed over, while schemes for the county town were prioritised.

But the unitary authority said the changes in Shrewsbury town centre, which came into effect last month, were made possible by external grant funding and that blanket 20mph zones like Ludlow was seeking were not in line with policy.

Councillor Gill said: “While the 20mph areas are good news for Shrewsbury, it is disappointing that requests from Ludlow Town Council for additional 20mph zones are ignored.

“There is much annoyance at the news and it reinforced the feeling that Shropshire Council should be renamed Great Shrewsbury Council.

“Ludlow Town Council wanted to see a 20mph area introduced into all the current residential 30mph areas.

“There is clear evidence that children’s and adults’ survival rates are greater where lower speed accidents are involved. The old slogan ‘speed kills’ is very true.”

Suitable

Shropshire Council’s portfolio holder for highways, Councillor Steve Davenport, said the council’s policy on speed limits was based on government guidance.

It means 20mph restrictions can only be considered on town centre roads, those outside schools, and certain residential streets “where wide community support can be demonstrated, where there is evidence that streets are being used by people on foot and on bicycles and where the characteristics of the street are suitable”.

The council’s approach to implementing 20mph speed restrictions was reviewed by its place overview committee in 2018, and again by a road safety task and finish group in 2019, in response to a campaign to make 20mph the default speed limit on residential and urban streets across the county.

Following the reviews, the council decided not to implement this approach.

Councillor Davenport added: “The externally-funded Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Plan (SITP), however, was developed in 2016 to support improvements to the town centre and associated road junctions for Shrewsbury.

“SITP was identified as a priority project for Shropshire because of the important role that transport and movement plays in supporting and encouraging a successful economy.

“A successful bid for funding to the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and developer contributions have financed this project work.”