Powys ‘forced’ to spend £60,000 on advertising 20mph zones
The extortionate figure has been exposed by Guilsfield councillor Ian Harrison’s ‘questions to department heads’ which revealed that £1.25 million of Welsh Government money has been spent so far on implementing the new speed limits in Powys.
This included creating and installing nearly 2,000 signs as well as placing 10 traffic order notices in the Powys County Times and Brecon & Radnor newspapers at an extraordinary cost of £59,297.16.
MyWelshpool has lobbied for 13 years to have the legislation changed to stop the bizarre legislation that forces councils to advertise traffic orders in newspapers, which have suffered a dramatic reduction in sales whilst at the same time independent hyperlocal sites have seen a surge in readership, but are mostly ignored by public body advertising budgets.
But it appears that change is finally in sight with fed-up councils uniting to end the outdated legislation which is costing the tax payers millions of pounds every year.
“The Local Authorities’ Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996 requires local authorities to publish traffic orders in a newspaper circulating in the area in which any road or other place to which the order relates is situated,” said a Powys County Council spokesperson, who added that the advertising costs will be clawed back from Welsh Government.
“The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 350 councils in England and Wales, has called for government to change the laws requiring councils to advertise in local newspapers previously.
“Earlier this year, they carried out a Public Statutory Notices Survey, the results of the survey will inform LGA lobbying to change the current requirements to publish public notices in local newspapers.”
Yesterday’s story revealing that initial 20mph spend on Powys can be read here .
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