MOST streets in Stonehaven will have reduced speed limits imposed after councillors approved speed limit orders for implementing the national 20mph strategy – though Farrochie Road will keep its brisker 30mph limit along its entire length as will Kirkburn Road for the section from the A90 turn off to the opening at Malcolm’s Mount.
Meanwhile, in one village, the drive for road safety will see their preferred speed limit increased.
Back in 2020, the Infratructure Services Committee agreed a new Speed Limits Policy for communities in the Shire, with 20mph being the norm, with strategic routes only retaining 30mph restrictions.
This was followed in 2021 by the Scottish Government’s adoption of a national strategy for 20mph which brought funding – enabling the Council to swap out speed signs across the Shire.
At Tuesday’s meeting of the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee, councillors considered each settlement in turn – in alphabetical order – discussing the points raised during the statutory consulation held earlier this year.
For the traffic order, only the sections of the roads included in the consultation could be addressed – and the only option was to accept the 20mph proposal or retain a 30mph limit if there was adequate justification. Existing 40 and 50mph limits will remain the same.
Many comments and suggestions received both during the consultation and during committee discussions were not relevant to the order but are noted and will hopefully be addressed in the future.
The changes to the proposed restrictions at Farrochie Road and Kirkton Road (kown to many as the Auchenblae Road) were agreed quite readily.
Some discussion was had about the need to reduce the speed limit on Broomhill Road after the cottages – but Cllr Sarah Dickinson flagged the multiple crossing points used by Malcolm’s Mount residents, including many schoolchildren, so the speed reduction was accepted.
The insanity of Edzell Woods
Sometimes size does not matter. The longest and most difficult discussion was the effective imposition of an unwanted speed limit increase at Edzell Woods
What was once RAF Edzell was purchased by a developer who started selling the properties in 1999. The ex-Ministry of Defence site now boasts 144 houses, an Inn and a school, a flourishing community trust – and a locally agreed 15mph speed limit.
Aberdeenshire Council has in the past refused to adopt the roads, pavements or lighting in the village.
This prompted Cllr George Carr to say he was ‘very uncomfortable’ with the local authority picking and choosing its interventions in the community.
The roads department officer assisting the meeting said the owners of private roads are still beholden to the law and that Aberdeenshire Council was the roads authority. When asked about the 15mph sign, he said it would be replaced by a 20mph sign then given back to the community.
Councillors mulled over the placing and ownership of poles, with Cllr Dawn Black using Google Earth to see what was there now.
With the committee accepting the order, chair Cllr Sarah Dickinson said: ”There is work to be done with the community in understanding what is to be done here.”
Previously in The Bellman