Abergavenny residents have expressed concerns that they were not properly consulted by Monmouthshire County Council on new speed restrictions that recently came into effect.

Last month Monmouthshire County Council announced Abergavenny is to be one of several towns in the county trialling a pilot scheme to lower speed restrictions from 30mph to 20mph.

The proposal is part of two Welsh Government funded pilot projects and forms a key part of the Welsh Government’s policy for Road Safety and Active Travel by aiming to create a culture for slower speeds, reducing the number and severity of road casualties and supporting alternative travel modes such as walking and cycling.

As one of the towns taking part in the pilot, all publicly maintained roads in the Abergavenny area have become a 20mph speed limit including the busy A40 road.

After implementing the scheme, Monmouthshire County Council confirmed that ongoing monitoring within pilot areas would continue, in order for the council, police and Welsh Government to understand the levels of compliance within the new speed limits.

They also confirmed they would consult on further proposed 20mph zones later in 2022.

This comes after the publication of a report by the Welsh government’s deputy minister for climate change, Lee Waters MS, on findings from a public consultation on the proposal to reduce speed limits to 20mph on residential streets.

The Welsh government’s online public consultation ran for a period of nearly three months from July 9 to October 1 2021.

In his report Mr Waters wrote: “I am publishing the summary report of the responses received to the public consultation to reduce the default speed limit on restricted roads in Wales from 30mph to 20mph in 2023.

“Just over 6,000 responses were received – 47 per cent were in favour of reducing the speed limit and 53 per cent were against.

‘‘Detailed feedback was also received from a number of organisations in Wales. The majority of these – 22 of 25 – broadly supported the Welsh Government’s proposal to reduce the speed limit.”

Following the report however, an Abergavenny resident took to social media to express their concerns that Abergavenny residents were not consulted on the matter and claims that figures used in the report were misleading.

The resident questioned the findings of the report claiming there was no indication of where those polled lived, that questions in the public consultation form were ‘skewed’ towards pedestrians and cyclists with motorists not asked how they would feel about the restriction and that the three areas quoted as being in favour of the restriction - St Brides, St Dogmaels and Llanelli North – do not compare in size to Abergavenny.

Posting on Facebook, the resident wrote: “I don’t recall Abergavenny residents being consulted about this change - it just seems to be a fait accompli wrapped up as a ‘trial’.

“I understand that care needs to be taken on residential streets and around schools and don’t have any problem with that. However to reduce the speed limit in the main A40 road is just madness and does nothing to reduce pollution.”

In response to the Facebook post, a number of local residents took to social media in agreement and expressed their own concerns about the lowered speed restriction.

Whilst many could understand the need for the restrictions to be in place on residential roads and near schools, concerns were raised about the effect a blanket 20mph speed restriction would have on busy commuter roads such as the A40.

The Chronicle contacted Monmouthshire County Council about these concerns and for a response from the council.

A spokesperson for Monmouthshire County Council said: “The Abergavenny 20mph scheme is one of eight pilot 20mph zones in Wales.

‘‘The Welsh Government carried out a Wales-wide consultation in Summer 2021 on proposals for the default speed limit in Wales to change.

“Monmouthshire County Council carried out a further consultation earlier this year specifically regarding the Abergavenny pilot as part of an on-going engagement and communications campaign with people across various channels for over a year.

‘‘The community has been given opportunities to have their say and welcome feedback.”