Statutory Finstown speed limit consultation underway

The next stage of the statutory consultation process required for introducing new speed limits in and around Finstown gets underway this week.

Following a petition received from the local community in 2021, the Council - after significant debate -  recommended the introduction of new speed limits in and around the village.

In order to introduce these Orkney Islands Council now has to put in place a Traffic Regulation Order - or a TRO - which by law has to be consulted on across three stages

Traffic Regulation Orders are legal orders put in place to control speed, movement and parking of vehicles. There are a number of reasons why one might be required including dealing with a safety issue, improving the  flow of traffic or putting speed limits in place .

Stage 1 of the consultation process sees Police Scotland consulted on the proposals - that stage has now been completed.

Stage 2 of the consultation sees other organisations like Scottish Fire & Rescue and community councils asked for comments - giving them a chance to feed in their thoughts on the proposal before it goes out for public consultation.  The proposals are not set in stone at this point and community input can help shape the final draft of the TRO.   This the stage that is now underway and expected to be completed by the first week in July.

Stage 3 of the consultation sees the final draft TRO going out for public consultation. This is open to any organisation, group or person - and objections, or letters of support, to the proposal can be submitted at this time.  A draft notice will be published in The Orcadian and on the Councils' website and be available to view at the Council offices.  This part of the consultation is likely to get underway in July and be completed by the end of August

The full proposals are as follows:

• Extension of existing part-time 20 mph limit on the A966 to cover a section of the A965
• Extension of the existing 30mph speed limits on the Old Finstown Road, on the A966 to Evie and A965 East – or the ‘Kirkwall side’ of Finstown

In addition, new speed devices are to be installed at each of the entrances to Finstown on the A965, at the entrance to Finstown on the A966, at the entrance to Finstown on the Old Finstown Road, and in the centre of Finstown, in the vicinity of Esson’s Garage but these do not form part of the TRO or the consultation.  

Hayley Green is the Council's Corporate Director for Neighbourhood Services and Infrastructure. She said: "The debate and discussion around how we tackle the challenges and issues of the speed and flow of traffic through Finstown was a wide ranging one - and attracted a lot of public attention.  There are some required processes that the Council has to go through now to put in place what was decided upon - and as such there is still time to shape the final outcome.

"The stage we're about to move onto now, is consulting with some of our community planning partners and, importantly, local community councils. Their views will help to shape the final proposals that go out to the public.  The public can make their views known now, but this needs to be done via their community council.

"Stage 3 of the consultation is then open to everyone - and we'll be publicising this further at the time to ensure that everyone gets a chance to have their say."

"We're aiming to have this all completed by the end of August, with any new limits in place as soon as possible after that."