#ReadyFor20mph

Welsh Government's new 20mph default speed limit will be introduced on 17th September 2023

• Reducing speeds to 20mph will help save lives and protect our communities.
• The 20mph default speed limit will affect most 30mph roads, which are generally residential or busy pedestrian streets with street lights.

More information about this new legislation can be found on Welsh Government’s website.

20mph speed limits - Find out more

Applying 20mph legislation to local roads in Flintshire

All councils across Wales have a legal duty to introduce 20mph on all restricted roads on 17 September 2023.

From this date, all restricted 30mph roads in Flintshire will automatically become 20mph roads. 

Restricted roads are typically located within residential areas and currently have a speed limit of 30mph and a system of street lighting (defined as three or more street lighting columns within 183m). 

All speed limits are assessed impartially based on specified national criteria. Local councils cannot legally disregard criteria because the decision will be unpopular. 

The Council has undertaken a review of roads in Flintshire involving an impartial assessment in accordance with Welsh Government’s 20mph place criteria and exceptions criteria. 

Only restricted roads that meet the Welsh Government ‘exceptions criteria’ can be considered for an exception.

To apply an ‘exception’ to a restricted road, local councils must have a clear and reasoned case for doing so, which demonstrates that strong evidence exists that retaining a higher speed limit would be safe.  

Not all existing 30mph roads will meet this test, although it is likely that stretches along some roads will. 

As part of this assessment process, local elected members were asked to identify roads in their wards which met Welsh Governments criteria and fourteen roads in Flintshire were put forward as possible exceptions.  

The proposals for these roads to revert to 30mph after the implementation of 20mph legislation in September, were subject to a formal 21 day statutory consultation which opened on 28 July 2023 and closed on Friday 18 August 2023.

Objections and or comments of support received during the consultation period are subject to a formal statutory process, which dependent upon the number of responses received and/or their complexity, can take some time to complete.  

Whilst the Council has formally advertised roads that meet the exception criteria over the summer, the required Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO’s) cannot be legally implemented until after the 17 September 2023 following the introduction of the new legislation. 

This means that all existing 30mph restricted roads in Flintshire (including those which may be considered exceptions) will default to 20mph on 17 September and advertised exceptions will not revert back to 30mph until the Traffic Regulation Orders have been implemented. 

All roads will be appropriately signed during each part of this process.

After the introduction of Welsh Government’s new Wales wide 20mph legislation in September, local communities will be able to put forward further roads for consideration for an exception via the Council’s website.  More information about how residents can do this will be made available in the autumn.  

More information about how the Council will introduce Welsh Government’s 20mph speed restrictions in Flintshire can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section. 

National Rollout FAQs

National Rollout - Frequently Asked Questions