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Newport City Council was thrown a “hospital pass” when handed responsibility for dealing with controversial speed limit changes, its leader has said.

Cllr Dimitri Batrouni said the switch to 20mph wasn’t initially local authority-led policy, but “then it was devolved to councils, conveniently”.

His comments came at a cabinet meeting on Monday January 13, when members agreed to start returning stretches of 16 city roads back to higher 30mph speed limits.

The council will now prepare traffic orders for each road, giving residents a further chance to have their say on changes.

The long process follows the Welsh Government’s switch – on road safety grounds – to a national default speed limit of 20mph in September 2023, which prompted protests and a record-breaking petition to the Senedd.

Changes within the government in 2024 brought about a softening of the policy, with the current transport secretary launching a “national listening programme” for citizens to have their say on which roads they thought should be changed back to higher speeds.

Those who took part in Newport proposed more than 300 changes, but the vast majority of those suggested for alterations did not comply with government guidance.

Cllr Laura Lacey, the cabinet member for social services, said the criteria for higher speeds wouldn’t apply to roads near education, health or community facilities.

She said “when you drive along these roads, you understand how our hands are tied” by those national rules.

Cllr Batrouni commended the cabinet member for infrastructure, Cllr Rhian Howells, who led the review in Newport, alongside officers.

Councils were told to carry out their own reviews of roads in 2024 following the government’s launch of the “listening programme”.

Cllr Batrouni said “whatever you think of the policy, we were put in that position”.

The leader said 20mph “evokes a lot of passion, either way” and added he wasn’t surprised that so many Newport residents had taken part in the consultation on subsequent changes.

Cllr Howells said the council was “aware of the strength of feeling” around the policy, and people who took part in the consultation had suggested roads where 20mph should be maintained, as well as roads where 30mph should be reinstated.

The roads expected to change back to 30mph in Newport are:

• Bassaleg Road (part)
• Caerphilly Road (part)
• Bettws Lane (part)
• Duffryn Drive
• Duffryn Way
• Frederick Street
• George Street
• Lighthouse Road (part)
• Morgan Way
• Royal Oak Hill (part)
• Tredegar House Drive
• Tregwilym Road (part)
• Usk Road (part)
• Wern Industrial Estate
• West Nash Road (part)
• Wharf Road