20mph plan for Bromyard town centre REJECTED

A plan to reduce the speed limit in the centre of a Herefordshire town to 20mph has been rejected.

Locals had prompted an investigation into the feasibility of such a speed limit on Broad Street, High Street and Twyning Street in Bromyard, and whether it was feasible to introduce a lower speed limit.

There were no objections from the fire and ambulance services, the Road Haulage and Freight Transport Associations, or the “locality steward” of the council’s public realm contactor Balfour Beatty.

But the town council rejected the idea during the consultation in summer 2023.

Ward councillor for Bromyard West Clare Davies backed the idea, though Coun Peter Stoddart of neighbouring Bromyard Bringsty opposed it.

Both he and the town council “questioned what would be achieved by introducing a 20mph speed limit, given that the speeds were already very low”, Herefordshire Council’s decision document explained.

A traffic survey also found “low speeds” on the streets, which “show that drivers in general are driving to the existing conditions of the road, and that

if a 20mph speed limit was implemented here, there would likely be a high likelihood of compliance”.

Government guidance on such proposals says they should only be introduced where there is community support, it added.

Given the lack of support from elected community representatives, council officieals recommended that a new Speed Limit Order for the streets “should not be progressed any further”.

The current 30mph speed limit “is appropriate for the section of road under investigation and there is a lack of local support for the proposal”, they concluded.

The £1,800 cost of the exercise was paid for out of the council’s Extra Ordinary Market Town Fund.

Herefordshire Council took the decision last July but only published it this month.