FOREST councillors are calling for a 20mph speed limit in residential streets that they say will save lives.

They are calling on Gloucestershire County Council to consult with district councils, town, parish councils and local communities by no later than 30 April 2025.

This would be to identify areas which would benefit from a 20mph speed limit, and to provide the necessary funding to implement these changes.

The Forest Council supports the Stockholm Declaration which calls for a maximum speed of 20mph in areas where vulnerable road users and vehicles mix except where strong evidence exists that higher speeds are safe.

The council will also write to Forest MP Mark Harper asking him to support the proposals.

Cllr Mark Topping (Green, Lydney West and Aylburton), who presented the motion at last Thursday’s (December 2) meeting of the full council, said if a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle travelling at 40mph they have a 90 per cent chance of being killed.

However, he said they have a 95 per cent chance of surviving if they are hit at 20mph.

He said: "The 30mph speed limit for residential areas was introduced in 1935 when there were about three million vehicles on British roads - today there are more than 38 million.

"We have inherited a speed limit from a time when the way in which people and vehicles mixed in this country was very different.

"Numerous parish councils are currently passing motions in support of 20mph speed limits such as Broadwell, St Briavels, Newland, Longhope, Aylburton, Upleadon and Dymock."

"If we can reduce average speeds on a road by one per cent , casualties are reduced by six per cent ," he said.

"Where 20mph limits have been introduced, there was a 20 per cent reduction in the number of casualties.

"In Gloucestershire in 2019, there were 468 road casualties on 30mph roads of which one was fatal and 132 were serious."

He said there would have been a 20 per cent casualty reduction would have meant 70 fewer casualties on the county’s roads.

He said the introduction of 20mph limits is a "win-win" as it reduces road casualties along with noise and pollution.

Cllr James Bevan (Independent Alliance, Lydney East) said he supported the motion and said the 20mph limit already works well in Lydney.

And Cllr Gill Moseley (Lib Dem, Newent and Taynton) said the campaign was far more than a local initiative and was endorsed by the government in 2020.

"This 20mph motion is intended to help bring about a cultural shift in behaviour where it is no longer acceptable to drive fast," she said.

Cllr Nick Evans (Con, Tidenham) said he was pleased to support the motion and said they need to take road safety very seriously particular in a rural area such as the Forest.

He said: "You are seven times more likely to be killed on a road in Gloucestershire than be a victim of homicide," he said.

"Speed is one of the fatal four contributors to death and serious injury on our roads and I am supportive of lower speeds in order to save lives."

The council voted to approve the motion with 24 votes in favour and four abstentions.