Whitby Town Council backs campaigners' plans for 20mph zones

Since October, Whitby Community Network (WCN) has been campaigning for a default 20mph speed limit in the Whitby urban area which would typically mean that all residential areas, as well as an expanded town centre, would be made 20mph.

WCN says the change in speed limit would ultimately provide a much safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists, less pollution, less road noise, as well as vehicles using less fuel and while doing all of this, not making a major impact on journey times.

The town council’s development and improvement committee met recently to discuss the plans and resolved to support the 20’s Plenty for North Yorkshire campaign, which calls for a speed limit of 20mph to be normal on residential streets and in town and village centres.

The town council also calls on North Yorkshire County Council to work in co-ordination with them to investigate a scheme to implement 20mph in Whitby; and will work with neighbouring authorities to progress this scheme.

A WCN spokesman said: “Thank you to Whitby Town Council for seeing the clear benefits that your residents would gain from this measure, and we look forward to North Yorkshire County Council implementing this as soon as possible in our town, with the involvement of the town council.

"This means that Whitby Town Council is the 141st town or parish council in the NYCC area requesting default 20mph, representing nearly 43% of the population.”

WCN has previously called for Whitby’s cycling infrastructure to be addressed “with some urgency” – claiming it was not up to scratch despite the town hosting some of the most spectacular scenes of the Tour de Yorkshire over the past few years, as well as stage 4 of the Tour of Britain last summer.

The group outlined some ideas it had on improving the cycling infrastructure, which includes a cycle and walking network plan covering areas in Whitby town and a route to connect the Esk Valley villages.

And another proposal was for 20mph residential area speed limits, to promote cycling among children in the areas where they live.