Ilkley: Council decides to implement town-wide 20mph zone following traffic calming debate which has divided Yorkshire community

The authority today made public a report about the traffic calming scheme, which received a large number of objections from Ilkley residents. Though the majority of residential streets will now be subject to the 20mph restriction, highways officers agreed to reduce the number of specific locations earmarked for ‘engineered’ solutions such as speed humps by around half to 73 blackspots, mostly around schools.

The £187,500 funding for the scheme includes a contribution from Ilkley Town Council. Strategic director of place David Shepherd signed off on the proposal on September 4, formally over-ruling the objectors.

In a breakdown of public feedback, the document stated that 50 residents had written to support the 20mph limit. A further 124 were in favour of a reduced scheme where the restriction was only applied to roads around schools and those identified as having issues with speeding.

Seventy-two people commented that they believed the results of an initial public consultation in December 2022 – which came back with 481 responses in favour of the limit and 515 against – had been ignored, but the report clarified that the plans were reviewed after this point and the traffic calming locations reduced from 120 to 73.

Among those who opposed the idea, 126 people said it was a waste of time and money, and 28 said it was not justified by collision or accident data – though this information is not required to formally advertise a speed limit order.

A further 39 objections were due to fears of increased congestion, noise and pollution, and 43 said it would have a negative impact on the town. Sixteen people said the scheme was too large, 17 cited a lack of information, and nine said that existing speed limits should be enforced and seven gave no specific reason for their opinion.

Council highways officers responded by pointing out that lower speeds were likely to reduce noise, collision and accidents, as well as encourage people to walk and cycle.

Regarding the traffic calming measures such as humps, 270 objectors said they were a waste of time and money. Only roads where data suggests speeding is frequent have been considered for these interventions.

Over 170 respondees said the bumps would negatively impact the safety of all road users, despite ‘track trials’ being carried out.

The report concludes: “We believe it is vitally important to remember why both Bradford and Ilkley councils support the introduction of a 20mph zone and that is because the reduction of speed in residential areas is proven to save lives and has the additional benefits including improving air quality and promoting active travel options.

“Through this paper, we set out the history of the consultation and engagement process in a written summary. In doing so we demonstrate that this matter has been under official consideration since 2019 (five years) and almost certainly been actively debated by interested parties and stakeholders since 2013 (10 years).

"The consultation process culminated with a full public consultation. Indeed, we believe we can demonstrate that despite considerable pressure to keep within the

established guidelines (on the 24mph cut-off speed for example) the Highways Department has moved to mitigate the concerns of several concerned residents especially about the final number of locations which have been identified for traffic calming intervention.

"We demonstrate that we have listened to and reacted to the opinion of a wide range of partnership organisations and residents. After five years of conversation, we do not believe there is any angle we have not heard, considered, or mitigated against.

"Perhaps the most controversial topic discussed during this process has been the nature of the enforcement measures and the locations in which these should be placed. We strongly believe that the whole point of a 20mph zone is to ensure that motor traffic travels below the legal speed limit so residents receive the full benefit of such a scheme and therefore make no apologies for following recommended government guidance to enforce this zone with speed limiting measures.

"This we do because although many drivers form Ilkley and elsewhere will stick within the advertised limits, we agree with the police that we cannot rely on this 100 per cent. Hard measures slow traffic full-stop. Until there is compelling evidence produced and accepted by the Department of Transport that proves otherwise using hard measures will remain our default position as an authority.

"We do understand the need to react to local opinion – even if we may disagree with it. We understand that there are strong views held for genuine reasons on these matters. A compromise has to be found and that is why the final orders identify places and locations for engineering to take place – yet have reduced in stages as objections were made resulting in a final reduction number overall over all by 48 per cent to 53 locations in total – the vast majority of which are adjacent to street that contain schools and nurseries.”