WORCESTERSHIRE’S highways chief wants new housing developments to have a maximum speed limit of 20mph.
Tom Wells, cabinet member for highways at Worcestershire County Council, said current planning policy already allows for 20mph zones but isn’t always implemented.
He also said new estates should be more welcoming for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as motorists.
HIGHWAYS CHIEF: Independent councillor Tom Wells wants a 20mph limit on new housing estates (Image: Submitted)
Speaking at a meeting of the council’s environment overview and scrutiny panel on Monday, July 6, Cllr Wells said: “I would like to see any major development – and I define that as 10 houses or more – having a design brief that we provide, setting standards for active travel within that new estate, with a presumption of 20mph.
“So it’s shared space, the car driver has no greater or lesser opportunity than the cyclist or the walker to utilise that public space.
“The implication is that would be a 20mph limit. It would be designed to achieve that end.”
READ MORE: Call for 20mph speed limit in Dines Green over injury fears
Councillor Emma Kearsey said the suggestion is “worlds away from what we have today”.
“It’s fine to have the aspiration for any developments over 10 hours to have 20mph limits, I just can’t for the life of me see it with the parameters we work within,” she said.
But she said there is a “massive disparity” between that aspiration and the reality of what is happening across the county.
Cllr Wells said current planning policy is for “parity between all road users” with a presumption of 20mph, but added that it isn’t always implemented.
READ MORE: Council has no plan to introduce 20mph speed limits
He said Traffic Regulation Orders could be used to ensure the policy is enforced.
Emily Barker, the council’s head of planning and transport planning, said the 20mph suggestion fits in with the council’s Streetscape Design Guide, which she said “sets a hierarchy of streets”.
She said the streets on such estates “are designed for 20mph or less, they are designed for shared use and that supports active travel”.
“We would expect a developer to provide for active travel on site as part of their development and we’re seeing that coming through,” she said.
