Weymouth councillor calls for easier approval of 20mph limits

WEYMOUTH councillor Jon Orrell has claimed failing to achieve local 20mph speed zones will have a detrimental effect on residents.

Weymouth councillor Jon Orrell has claimed failing to achieve local 20mph speed zones will have a detrimental effect on residents.

He told a Dorset Council’s people and health committee that it was a shame that lower speed schemes in Weymouth and Dorchester had failed to get off the ground.

Dr Orrell said that lower speeds not only saved lives and reduced the risk of serious injuries but also had an positive impact on air pollution.

He said Public Health bodies ought to be doing more to improve the chances of lower speed zones being approved.

“We have had difficulty in Weymouth, we have had difficulty in Dorchester. Do we need to do something to re-look at the policy for 20mph zones. Is that something Public Health could look at with other departments across the council and make it a lot easier to get a 20mph zone?” he said.

Cllr Orrell said there was now plenty of evidence that the schemes cut road deaths and injuries and helped improve general air quality, reducing the number of people with lung problems and naturally filtering the air.

He also appealed for Dorset Council to consider more intensive tree planting, especially in town centres, which also had a positive effect on health, including providing shade at times of heatwaves.

The Melcombe Regis ward councillor said improving insulation in homes was another way that public health could help, working with other departments to achieve better insulation in homes it had an influence on.

Director of housing, communities and prevention, Sam Crowe, whose brief also includes health, said he believed that council departments were getting better at working together on schemes which could impact on public health across the area’s wider population.

He said he would encourage that co-operation to continue and improve.

A recent public consultation on a town-wide 20mph zone for Dorchester saw more than 60per cent of residents who took part in a consultation voting against the idea – although the town council is now to draw up plans to have lower speed limits in targeted areas, including schools.

In Weymouth a 2026 Weymouth Town Council consultation covered eight proposed 20mph areas. Six proposals received more “no” than “yes” responses, although in some cases only by a narrow margin.

Only two proposals had more support than opposition – an extension to the town centre existing scheme and at Coombe Valley.