By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
There are concerns that plans for a “blanket 20mph limit” for Cheltenham town centre could become as controversial as the scrapped Boots Corner closure.
Gloucestershire County Council’s consultation on plans to introduce a 20mph limit zone in the spa town has been blasted by Cheltenham Civic Society.
The Civic Society describes the consultation as a “disappointing and weakly-evidenced exercise” which they say risks repeating the mistakes the county council made during the ill-fated Boots Corner closure proposals which were reversed after public pressure in 2019.
The conservation charity supports improving road safety and reducing casualties but they believe the consultation fails to demonstrate why many collisions occurred, whether speed was a significant factor and why imposing a town-wide 20mph speed limit represents the most effective solution.
Civic Society chairman Andrew Booton said the county council appears to have “once again confused correlation with causation”.
“The consultation shows where collisions happened but provides remarkably little evidence explaining why they happened,” he said.
“The majority of incidents identified appear to have occurred at junctions, crossing points and locations where different road users interact.
“Yet the council has not demonstrated that excessive speed was the primary cause of those incidents or that a blanket 20mph limit is the most effective response.
“Good transport policy should be built on evidence, analysis and targeted interventions. Instead, residents are being asked to support sweeping restrictions across large parts of the town without being given the information necessary to understand whether those restrictions will actually address the problems identified.”
The Civic Society believes resources would be better directed towards targeted engineering improvements, better pedestrian crossings, junction redesign, road maintenance, enforcement and education measures that address proven causes of risk.
“What is most disappointing is that Gloucestershire County Council appears not to have learned the lessons of the Boots Corner consultation,” Mr Booton added.
“That scheme became deeply controversial because the evidence base, assumptions, objectives and claimed benefits did not stand up to proper scrutiny. Public confidence was damaged because data was presented selectively and without sufficient transparency or context.
“For a highway authority with statutory responsibilities and a legal duty to secure best value for taxpayers, producing a consultation of this quality is simply not good enough.”
While supportive of lower speeds in spaces shared by people and vehicles, such as parts of the High Street and around schools, the Civic Society says any measures must be evidence-led, proportionate and tailored to local circumstances rather than imposed as blanket policies.
In its formal consultation response, the Civic Society has also called on the council to strengthen the evidence base, publish fuller supporting data and demonstrate a clear causal link between identified problems and proposed interventions before proceeding further.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Roger Whyborn (Benhall and Up Hatherley) said: “We welcome feedback from Cheltenham Civic Society and the wider community on these proposals. This is an important early stage with no decisions yet made.
“We have been asking people to share their views so we can shape the proposals. All feedback will be carefully considered alongside the evidence before any next steps are agreed.”