‘Shocked But Not Surprised’

Onchan MHK Rob Callister has said he is ‘a little shocked though not entirely surprised’ by confirmation that new 20mph speed limit signs will begin appearing in Douglas and Onchan from next week.

The Department of Infrastructure (DoI) has confirmed that a traffic order introducing a default 20mph limit across residential streets in the east of the island will take effect from Monday, January 19, with the new limits coming into force on a road-by-road basis once signs are installed.

Mr Callister said he had raised concerns with the DoI as far back as July last year about a lack of public engagement in Onchan, warning that local residents and businesses had not been properly consulted.

In a statement posted on social media, he said he had written to the Department’s Highway and Asset Management Section to highlight the absence of consultation with constituents and businesses, while also providing ‘detailed recommendations’ on which roads should be reduced to 20mph and which should remain at 30mph.

‘The Department later published details of its public consultation, which received 558 submissions, yet only four amendments were made,’ he said, adding that his original feedback appeared to have ‘fallen on deaf ears’.

Mr Callister said he submitted further representations on behalf of Onchan residents in November, ahead of any amended traffic regulation order being finalised.

During a House of Keys sitting on November 25, he questioned whether the Department had complied with the Council of Ministers’ public engagement principles.

Although the Infrastructure Minister confirmed that it had, Mr Callister said no consultation had taken place within the Onchan constituency itself, and that neither local MHKs, businesses nor residents were engaged directly.

He added: ‘I can confirm to Onchan constituents today that I have not received any correspondence outlining where the new 20mph zones in Onchan will be located.’

Mr Callister said he now suspects residents will have to ‘wait and see’ where the new signs appear across the constituency in the coming weeks.

The new speed limit will only come into force once the signs are installed.

This means that the limits will take effect on a road by road basis.

The signs are being installed by contactors for the DoI and it’s not yet certain the order in which the roads will be become 20mph.

A DoI road map shows a sea of red indicating the new 20mph limits.