Ely 20mph zone petition presented by ECDC Leader Anna Bailey

Cllr Bailey launched a petition in April 2024 calling for the location of 20mph zones in Ely to be reconsidered and for a new consultation to be implemented. 

Ely is one of the many areas in Cambridgeshire where 20mph zones have been introduced, however Cllr Bailey said the decision to put a "blanket" 20mph zone in the city is "flawed".

Cllr Anna Bailey, Leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council. (Image: Anna Bailey)

At the Cambridgeshire County Council highways committee meeting on October 1, Cllr Bailey presented her petition, which has amassed 2,779 signatures.

Cllr Bailey said that she has received more traffic in her email inbox on 20mph zones than she has on any other topic since she became a councillor at ECDC in 2007.

She told councillors the decision to introduce a 20mph zone across Ely was "flawed" and that the initial consultation was "really poor and disproportionate to the scale of change".

The initial consultation saw 193 responses. Cllr Bailey's petition has had 2,779, which is 23 times the number from the initial consultation.

Cllr Bailey also spoke of the "contrast" in implementing 20mph zones across Cambridgeshire.

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She said that the 20mph zone consultation in South Cambridgeshire was leafleted, and the decision to introduce 20mph zones in Huntingdon was taken in a public meeting. Cllr Bailey said that Ely, "didn't get such attention".

In a post made online after appearing at the Highways Committee meeting, Cllr Bailey said: "We call on Cambridgeshire County Council to reconsider the locations for 20mph speed limits in Ely, taking into account new Government guidance, and to properly evidence its proposals."

Chairman of the hhighways committee, Cllr Alex Beckett, told Cllr Bailey that she will receive a response to her petition within 10 working days.