Over 500 sign petition to lower speed limit in village following safety concerns

Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Assurances have been given that a county council will look again at lowering the speed limit through a village following petition from residents.

At a Powys County Council meeting on Thursday, July 10, residents from Crai between Brecon and Ystradgynlais presented a petition signed by 566 people asking for the authority to bring the speed limit there down to 30 mph down from 60mph.

Residents also want to see speed cameras placed on this stretch of the A4067 road that goes through the village including the farms of Beiligwern and Nantmadog.

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'Hard fought' 

The petition is the first of its kind to go in front of council and resident Vaughn Myfanwy Mudie presented it.

Mrs Mudie said: “We gathered over 500 signatures; this is not a new campaign but it’s a hard fought one”

She said that two motorbikes going through the village had recently been clocked at 91 miles per hour’s and that these: “speeds were not unusual.”

Mrs Mudie said: “The background to this is that the majority of cars are doing 60mph plus through our village.

“There have been four road traffic accidents in the last 10 months, three not serious but damaging property including the council’s flashing lights.

‘The fourth (accident) on Easter weekend was a motorbike hitting the other set of flashing lights and required an air ambulance and a road closure for four hours.”

“On behalf of the people who signed the petition, I ask you to use common sense and discretion and respond to our request to help us to stay safe.

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Long-term solutions

Cabinet member for highways, transport and recycling Cllr Jackie Charlton (Liberal Democrat) asked councillors to back a move for the council’s highways officials to “have another look” at the speed limit and come up “with long term solutions,” that would go in front of a future cabinet meeting for a decision.

Chief officer for place, Matt Perry said that everyone agrees that the speed limit should be lowered.

On installing cameras Mr Perry explained that the council needed “support from the Police and Go Safe” to deal with speeding issues.

He added that the financial implications of this decision needed to be “weighed up.”

Mr Perry said: “I appreciate this isn’t all that you wanted but I am in favour of working with you and getting the speeding reduced as quickly as possible.”

Local county councillor Edwin Roderick (Powys Independents- Maescar and Llywel) said: “We are very passionate in Crai about this, we’ve had about two years of discussion.”

He said that and an agreement in principle to lower the limit to 50mph had not materialised.

'Unsafe'

Finance portfolio holder Cllr David Thomas (Labour) is a regular user of the stretch of road that he frequently travels from his Tawe Uchaf ward near Ystradgynlais to Llandrindod Wells

Cllr Thomas said: “My son and his young family lived on a property in Crai.

“When my granddaughters were very young, they could not be let out of the front of the house because it was unsafe.

He added if you travel “further down the valley towards Swansea,” you have several villages and hamlets that had 30 mph speed limits.

These were all reduced to 20 mph when the Welsh Government urban speed limit changes came into force in September 2023.

“I remember thinking that it makes no sense that Crai had not been reviewed and certainly a 30 mph should be the minimum,” said Cllr Thomas.

The petition was unanimously backed by councillors.