THE DEPUTY MAYOR of Holywell has proposed for a 20mph speed limit to be put in place around the town.

Although any action is still very much in the distance, Councillor Paul Johnson put forward the suggestion at a recent Holywell town council meeting.

The Holywell Deputy Mayor is now eager to gather public opinion and responses on the matter before deciding whether to take the proposal forward to Flintshire County Council, who are responsible for all speed limits in the region.

About the idea, Councillor Johnson says: “Speeding in Holywell is an ongoing problem. The default speed limit in urban areas is 30mph but it can be reduced, and rather than looking at speeds on a street by street basis, it would make more sense to have a 20mph limit covering whole areas.

“Some people won’t like it, but it’s about seeing the possible benefits.”

Holywell’s Deputy Mayor has taken inspiration for the idea from the city of Chester, who imposed a similar blanket speed limit in 2016, through the ‘20’s Plenty’ initiative, which campaigns for mandatory 20mph speed limits on most roads.

Since its introduction, there’s been a reported 65 per cent reduction in road traffic accidents in the borough, and Councillor Johnson adds:

“More than half of the largest 40 urban authorities in the UK (including Chester) have a policy of setting 20mph as the default for all their streets. It looks like this has many benefits.

“I’m currently investigating what local attitudes are to this sort of scheme and last weeks Town Council meeting was a great opportunity to find out what the local police inspector thought. I was very encouraged by his comments on the practicality of a similar 20mph scheme in Holywell and Flintshire.

“I’m going to be asking the Town Council to look at this idea further and will be asking local people in my ward as my next steps.

“If anyone is interested in developing a 20s Plenty campaign in Holywell, it would be great if they could get in touch with me.”

The calls for the introduction of a 20mph speed limit in Holywell echoes that of residents in Saltney who are clamouring for action to be taken in the town after the horrific hit and run incident which left 10-year-old Alfie Watts in a critical condition.

If you’d like your say on the proposals, you can contact Councillor Paul Johnson through Facebook (under ‘Cllr Paul Johnson - Holywell West’) or by email: paul.johnson@flintshire.gov.uk.