Speed limit annulment would prevent Blanchelande from getting a 25mph zone

Thursday 14 February 2019

There is an irony in two deputies' blanket approach to blocked all of E&I's speed limit reduction plans, according to the Committee's President.

Deputy Barry Brehaut has said it was disappointing to see the annulment placed by Deputy Carl Meerveld come as a single package, affecting 10 separate statutory instruments put forward by Environment.

H. There is no blanket approach, in essence there are four areas covered, some are an extension to the existing 25mph limit. The real blanket approach is the attempt to annul all of the SIs. Residents, parishioners and some Deps have requested the introduction of 25mph limits.

— Barry Brehaut. (@deputybaz) 12 February 2019

E&I's hopes in putting their speed limit proposals into 10 different packages was that deputies could pick and choose if they wanted to challenge certain areas - however this is not the approach made in the most recent attempt to slow any speed limit reductions down. 

Since we announced our proposals many more residents have come forward asking for speed reductions in thier lane or road. And I agree that opposition motivated by such headlines as "81 new speed zones" has been disproportionate.

— Barry Brehaut. (@deputybaz) 12 February 2019

Deputy Meerveld and Deputy Jeremy Smithies have brought forward the move to annul the reductions because they want them to be debated in the States. Speaking about their amendment, Deputy Meerveld said they were not necessarily against the concept of reducing speed limits in various places around the island - although they did have some concerns - but they wanted to ensure the chamber had an opportunity to discuss the measures before they were introduced. 

Deputy Brehaut said this approach was disappointing though: "We have 10 SIs before the States, but because of this annulment being against all 10, if it passes we will lose out on changes to the road around Blanchelande, as an example.

I listened to Deputy Meerveld’s interview on @BBCGuernsey this morning. All areas of concern he touched on are in fact dealt with in our decision notice. He had concerns regarding speeding in green lanes too, so do we! Hence proposals for some new limits in narrow lanes.

— Barry Brehaut. (@deputybaz) 13 February 2019

"It would be disappointing to lose all of our proposals to one annulment - there is a lovely irony in this approach because it is so blanket, when we were criticised for looking at this like that. We presented our SIs in the knowledge that some states members would want to vote against them, so we were specific."

It would have been better, Deputy Brehaut suggested, if annulments were placed against the specific Statutory Instruments which involved roads people felt shouldn't have speed limit reductions.

While these speed limit reductions were met with outrage from the public online, a consultation carried out by E&I showed 45% of respondents were in favour of the idea. It has since been clarified that only 17 more people were against the proposals however. Additionally, Deputy Brehaut said the idea had only been conceived because people in the higher parishes were actively contacting them to ask what was being done about speed limits on their smaller roads. 

The debate on the annulment will now take place in the States on the 27 February.