ELDERLY residents of a Gwent community are unwilling to travel by bus because they "can’t cross the road" to reach their local bus stops.

Hundreds of people have signed a petition calling for a new pedestrian crossing to serve the villages of Goytre and Penperlleni, on the A4042 road which runs between Abergavenny and Newport.

And in a move which goes against much of the criticism of the Welsh Government’s recent move to lower default speed limits from 30mph to 20mph nationwide, the petitioners have called for a stretch of the A4042 in the villages to be cut.

The government has agreed to look into the calls for change, and has vowed to push ahead with a "pedestrian crossing assessment" this financial year.

The person behind the petition welcomed the progress but has urged ministers to set a date for a new crossing, which would be built near the Goytre Arms pub.

Jan Butler, the petitioner, said the community had set up a sizeable Speedwatch group of volunteers, in a move which "reflects the depth of feeling, and raw grief, felt by our villagers".

She said the speed limit in the village should be cut to 20mph "for a number of reasons", including drivers approaching the junction from the west having their view of the A4042 "completely obscured".

This was "probably OK in the days of the horse and cart [but] sadly we are inheritors of a not-fit-for-purpose road network," she added.

The lack of crossings in the villages, and in nearby Llanover, was also putting people off using public transport - a situation Monmouthshire county councillor Butler claimed was "counter" to the government’s own environmental goals.

She said "elderly residents just won’t use the buses as they can’t cross the road… [and instead] rely on relatives for lifts in their cars".

Cllr Butler also said the "imminent" construction of a housing development in the area, as well as the popularity of nearby attractions including a garden centre and a coffee shop, meant there was "increased potential for incidents" on the roads and showed the need for a lower speed limit.

Why is the Welsh Government lowering speed limits to 20mph in Wales?

Last year the Welsh Government passed a law allowing councils to cut the default speed limit on most residential roads from 30mph and 20mph.

The government said initially the move would help cut pollution and meet environmental targets, but more recently ministers have pushed road safety as the reason for the change.

They promoted research claiming a 20mph limit could save more than 100 lives over the first decade of its implementation.

The 20mph decision has proved controversial, however, and some drivers were unimpressed during trials of the scheme in places like Abergavenny and Caldicot.

Councils will be given powers to change the speed limits from 30mph to 20mph from September 2023.