Residents in Eglwys Fach and Ffwrnais will take part in a protest march this month in a bid to improve road safety.
The march will take place on Saturday, 18 November with residents of both villages demanding pavements and speed reductions. They held a march in 2014 but nothing has been done, and residents are frustrated by the lack of action by Welsh Government to make their villages safer.
Local community councillor Dr Ruth Stevenson has started a petition – petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/245832 – calling on the government to reduce the speed limit in both villages from 40mph to 30mph.
Co-councillors on Ysgubor y Coed Community Council back her fully and share her frustration with the lack of consultation and consideration given to the residents of the two villages. The petition has 402 signatures.
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Local councillors and residents believe a march on 18 November will raise awareness of the perils of walking or cycling in their north Ceredigion villages, and say the combination of speed and lack of pavements turn a simple walk into a hazardous venture – especially on the narrow bridge at Ffwrnais. Local pupils have to navigate the road twice daily to get to their school bus and councillors say it’s simply not good enough.
Alison Swanson, an Ysgubor y Coed councillor for 40 years, said: “After campaigning for so many years to try to get a speed limit of 30mph in Ffwrnais and Eglwys Fach it is a great disappointment that Welsh Government still refuses to look at this.
“Seeing other nearby villages becoming much safer following the new 20mph limit makes us even more frustrated. We have to remind Welsh Government that much of the road through the two villages has no pavement which makes it very difficult to walk from one place to the other. This does not encourage anyone to walk or cycle in our villages.”
County councillor Catrin M S Davies added: “I know community councillors and other residents of Ffwrnais and Eglwys Fach have called for change for many years and have had support from Plaid Cymru’s Elin Jones MS and Ben Lake MP in their campaign but it has fallen on deaf ears.
“Now Welsh Government is making changes to speed limits I hope they will look favourably at the calls from Ysgubor y Coed councillors.”
The march on Saturday, 18 November will start at Glandyfi layby at 11am.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said they “take road safety very seriously and regularly review police collision data to inform the need for additional measures”, and they “are in the process of revising guidance on setting local speed limits and, on completion, will undertake a review of speed limits across Wales.”
The spokesperson added that a feasibility study for the provision of a footpath in Eglwys Fach and Ffwrnais has been commissioned. This is due by the end of January 2024 with a proposed scheme detailed design to follow subject to funding and prioritisation.