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Dozens of stretches of road across Caerphilly County Borough could revert to 30mph speed limits, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands.

Council officers will have to carry out detailed traffic surveys on those roads before any final decisions are made, however.

The ongoing review follows the lowering of Wales’ default speed limit to 20mph in September 2023.

Welsh transport secretary Ken Skates launched a “national listening programme” last year, aimed at consulting the members of the public on roads they thought should not have been included in the switch to 20mph.

Although the lower speed limits were introduced for health and road safety reasons, the decision proved controversial and led to protests and a Senedd petition demanding change, signed by a record number of people.

Changes at the top of the Welsh Government were followed by a softer approach to the policy, involving more consultation with people and opening the door for some roads to be reconsidered.

In Caerphilly, it is understood 55 roads have been accepted for review by the local authority.

Residents had reportedly filed requests for roughly twice that number of roads, but the remainder did not meet the government’s strict criteria for potential change.

This could have been because those stretches of road were too close to sensitive areas such as schools, for example.

If Welsh councils are able to show it is safe to revert a stretch of road back to 30mph, they will have to issue Traffic Regulation Orders for each area, offering people a further chance to have their say.

It is understood that Caerphilly County Borough Council will carry out traffic surveys until the spring.

Councils were given a share of an extra £5 million in government funding to carry out the review of roads – and that follows an initial £38 million spent nationwide on the 20mph policy to August 2024.

Cllr Kevin Etheridge, an independent from Blackwood, said decision-makers “should have listened” before making the switch to 20mph.

While welcoming the review, he criticised the “additional cost to the taxpayer” and said the ongoing process had placed further pressure on stretched local authorities.