Welsh village cut off because 20mph limit means buses don’t have time to go there

Residents of a Welsh village have said they are being isolated after a bus company axed the only local route as a result of the new 20mph speed limit.

The only stop in Llandegla, a Denbighshire village with a population of 500 people, will be cut by bus company Arriva as it claimed the new limit imposed by the Welsh Government adds too much time to their drivers’ journeys to reach it.

The changes are set to come into force from Jan 14 after a review by Arriva Wales of its service provision in North Wales.

‘Dangerous situation’

Residents said people who relied on the service would suffer, with passengers forced to walk along unsafe stretches of road to reach a stop.

Gwyneth Dillon, a community councillor, said the move would “cause a huge amount of hardship”.

Neena Barlow, a resident, said: “Let’s hope Arriva take note of all the letters they will receive on this issue and act responsibly by reversing their decision, given the dangerous situation their present decision will leave our village bus-users in.”

David Jones, the local Conservative MP, who opposed the Welsh Labour Government’s new speed limit, said it would create “additional challenges and burdens” for businesses.

Last year, Wales became the first country in the UK to drop the default speed limit on residential roads from 30mph to 20mph.

Although the changes were officially implemented on Sept 17, motorists were given a “grace period” to get used to it.

Punishments for those breaching the law were enforced from Jan 8. These include fines, receiving points and even the loss of a driving licence for exceeding the speed limit.

‘Lost mileage and reduced punctuality’

A spokesman for Arriva Wales said: “The withdrawal of this service in Llandegla is due to the impact of 20mph on the 51 and X51 services. To be clear this is not to say that Llandegla and its speed limits are the issue but now the service overall is taking longer to operate due to reduced speeds across the network.

“The consequences of this change in speed has been severe and has caused increased lost mileage and reduced punctuality.

“We have been open in raising our concerns with Transport for Wales, the Welsh government and local authorities.

“There have also been press statements and questions raised in the Senedd about this on the basis of our concerns and the consequences.”

The service to Llanedgla has been diverted to the main A525 road - but it will also stop serving the Tweedmill Shopping Outlet in St Asaph which is popular with shoppers.

‘Anti worker, anti-growth, anti-driver’

This comes after outgoing Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford suggested at a press conference in Cardiff that drivers would not be fined for breaching the new default 20mph speed limit if they were “genuinely confused” and instead enforcement should be for those who “deliberately” broke the law.

Natasha Asghar, shadow transport minister in the Welsh Senedd, said: “Labour’s blanket 20mph will negatively impact the people of Wales and already we can see the damage being done.

“Labour should drop their anti-worker, anti-growth and anti-driver policies punishing people just trying to get from A to B.”

The Welsh Government claimed the changes to the speed limit would reduce collisions, save lives and reduce injuries.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We have been clear we will continually monitor any impacts of the new default 20mph speed limit on bus services.

“We continue to work closely with bus operators, local authorities and TfW to tackle the wider challenges facing the bus industry and will bring forward new legislative proposals to reform the sector.”

A public meeting will be held at the village in Llandegla on Friday to address the issue.