Lee Waters on Wales new 20mph speed limits Senedd petition

Lee Waters accepted the scheme was "difficult" and a "major change in behaviour for people", but claimed drivers would get used to the new speed limits just as rules around wearing seatbelts eventually became the norm.

In a passionate debate in the Senedd, opponents criticised the government for the money being spent on the change and alleged Mr Waters of bringing in a "blanket" change - something he denied.

He admitted, however, that councils should be more flexible when deciding which roads should stay at 30mph.

Members of the Senedd voted last summer to change the default speed limit on so-called restricted roads (typically lit streets in residential areas) in Wales from 30mph to 20mph, and the change in the law is due to come into force on September 17 this year.

The government believes the switch to 20mph will lead to better road safety, but the decision has caused a huge amount of controversy.

There have been several public calls to either reform or overturn the government’s plans, and it was one of those petitions which the Welsh Parliament debated on Wednesday.

Nearly 22,000 people signed that petition, calling on the Welsh Government to abandon the plan, which they alleged was “not representative of the broader public opinion” and, therefore, it would not be “not democratic to implement the changes”.

The man behind the petition, Benjamin Watkins, argued any “alteration to road laws on this scale should be subject to much more extensive polling or possibly as part of a Welsh referendum on the matter”.

Conservative MS Natasha Asghar said there was 'no appetite' for the 20mph speed limit plan. (Image: senedd.tv)

In the Senedd, Conservative shadow transport minister Natasha Asghar called the 20mph plan “hugely damaging” and said the government should listen to the roughly 100,000 people who had signed various Senedd petitions opposing the change.

“It’s clear there is no appetite for 20mph limits being placed across the country,” she said, before claiming the government was spending £32.5 million to implement the scheme.

She agreed there was “a need for targeted action” but said 20mph limits should be limited to places like roads outside schools and play areas.

Mr Waters said allegations of a "blanket ban" were "misleading" and said the 20mph scheme would "pay [the money it cost] back in its first year alone, three times over".

Hefin David, Labour MS for Caerphilly, said there was a “huge welcome” for the 20mph limits in some areas he represented and called the government’s plan “on the whole the right policy”.

But he was one of several people who said the government had to make sure communities could apply for exemptions to the 20mph plans if they thought their local streets were better suited to 30mph limits.

Mr David said he feared those challenges could be like “coming up against a brick wall… because of Welsh Government rules” on exemptions to the new speed limits.

“You have to do this by consent,” he told the government.

Lee Waters defended the Welsh Government's 20mph speed limit plans. (Image: senedd.tv)

Mr Waters assured the Senedd more funding would be given to councils for the exemptions process and said "common sense needs to be applied".

John Griffiths, representing Newport East, said he had long supported the change to 20mph for road safety reasons.

He said the change would “allow communities to reclaim the streets” and claimed it was “disingenuous” to call the new law a “blanket ban” on 30mph roads because it was “perfectly possible” for councils to amend speed limits.

He admitted, however, that communication between the government and road-users “hasn’t been everything that it should be”.