Wales 20mph: Tell councils if a road is too slow, says minister

Wales' transport minister has promised the public they will be able to take part in a review of the 20mph speed limit.

Lee Waters says if you feel your street should return to 30mph you can let your council know why.

A letter to councils said the review, which is looking at how the policy has been implemented, will make initial recommendations in February.

The Welsh Conservatives said the policy should be reversed, not reviewed.

Last week Mr Waters was criticised for putting Phil Jones - who had helped spell out how the policy would work - in charge of the review.

Opposition parties were concerned that the review will not be impartial enough.

Mr Jones will still lead the review, but a letter has revealed that the process will now also involve Peter Jones, a transport professor who Mr Waters says had no involvement in the policy.

Mr Waters' letter to local councils said the professor "will provide independent challenge to the process". Kaarina Ruta, transport adviser at the Welsh Local Government Association, also sit on the three person panel.

The review will look at how guidance for councils on how they implement the law - and designate roads 30mph - has been applied.

Draft conclusions will be drawn up and submitted for publication to the Welsh government next month.

Later the review will "offer support to local authorities where they are keen to rapidly consider changes to roads where the decision between a 20mph and 30mph speed limit is less clear cut", Mr Waters wrote.

A final report with draft updated guidance will be finished by the summer recess, when Wales will have a new first minister.

Welsh Labour leadership candidate Vaughan Gething has previously said he wants the public to have a say in the review, via their local councils.

Both candidates have said they would stick with the policy and review its implementation.

On X, the site formerly known as Twitter, Mr Waters said: "As part of the review councils are drawing up list of roads they think need looking at again.

"If you feel your street should go back to 30mph you can let them know why."

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said there should be a "speedier response from the Labour government to get to grips with the frustrations that the policy has created in some areas".

Natasha Asghar, of the Welsh Conservatives, said the review was "hardly going to be fair and impartial".

"The Welsh people don't want a review of 20mph, they want it reversed."

A Welsh government spokesperson previously said: "This review, as we set out in October, is looking at how the new default 20mph speed limit has been implemented across Wales. It is not a review into the policy itself which has been overwhelmingly supported by Senedd members from three parties."