I NOTE the issue of speed restrictions on the Horseshoe Pass has come up again.

Driven by the Welsh Government (WG) diktat from a few years ago and now supported by our local councillors!

I had the same thing when I was a councillor. The WG dictated that all councils should take a re-look at all of their speed limits.

There is/was a noise issue from motorcycles, and people were saying speeding was going on, they said that they were speeding and causing the noise and that putting in speed limits would address this. I asked our officers to put in a speed check for a week which they did. In actual fact speeding wasn't going on with, if I recall correctly, the average speed being 48mph.

I also asked North Wales Police (NWP) for their stats regarding tickets issued over the previous five years for people breaking the 60mph limit. Again, if I recall correctly, there was one!

So our machine said no speeding, NWP said hardly any tickets issued for speeding in that area and so given that my email box was flooded with people concerned about speed limits affecting their journeys, we put a stop to the process.

It just simply was not needed. What we did say was if the WG was concerned about safety, surely it would have been better to put guard rails in.

I also addressed the issue directly, the noisy motorcycles, the noise isn't caused by speed, it is caused by illegal exhausts and so I did what anybody presented with evidence did. I asked the NWP to address the issue of noisy exhausts, which they started to do!

Now here we are again with Cllr Timm saying: "I'm pleased that the details and consultation on the 40mph speed limit on the Pass has finally opened.

"Over the last three years accidents have continued to be a regular occurrence.

"The cause of most of the accidents on the Horseshoe Pass is speed and so I fully support the proposed limit. It will save lives and serious injury if it is introduced.

"Enforcement is also a key part in slowing down the traffic. If it is introduced I will be putting pressure on the police to dedicate time and resources to make sure that it is enforced."

So he is quite happy to make sweeping statements! Has he done what I did and asked for evidence? Has he got the stats to support his statements? Has he asked the officers and the WG to put in guard rails?

Basically he has gone the route of the rest of the people who hate motorcycles and is trying to address the issue with the wrong solution!

Stuart Davies

Llangollen

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