20 Mile An Hour Speed Limit for Streets In Wick
22nd February 2018

The safety of children walking and cycling to and from school and traffic calming measures in Wick were under the spotlight at yesterdays meeting of the Caithness Committee (Wednesday 21 February 2018).
Local Councillors have given the go-ahead for proposals to introduce a 20mph speed limit and traffic calming measures across Wick designed to get motorists to slow down when driving around the town.
The scheme will include introducing gateway signage, roundels, 20mph repeater signs and Speed Indication Devices.
Money will come from the £50,000 per year of capital funding allocated by the Council to implementation 20mph speed limit schemes across the Highlands in addition to the £100k Carbon Clever Capital contribution.
Chair of the Caithness Committee Councillor Donnie Mackay said: "Every 11 minutes someone in Scotland is stopped for speeding. We take the safety of children, pedestrians, cyclists and drivers very seriously which is why I'm pleased to see plans to put in place this 20mph speed limit across the town moving forward."
Wick Councillor and Caithness Civic Leader, Cllr Willie Mackay added: "The consequences of speeding in a built- up area can be devastating. The impact sustained by a child struck by a vehicle at 20mph is serious enough, but at 30mph the results could prove fatal. I am sure the new lower speed limit will encourage all road users to take greater care and consider other people."
All 20mph speed limit schemes require to be supported by formal Road Traffic Regulation Orders. Now the members have approved the proposals, officers will consult with communities with the aim to implement the schemes during 2018/19. If the proposals approved attract any relevant objections a further report will be back to Committee for members to discuss.
The timing of the decision made by councillors today is timely as the Council is actively supporting the current Scottish Government and Road Safety Scotland media campaign which promotes the clear message to all road users; In Town, Slow Down.
Members of the Committee were advised that the Council's Road Safety team will continue their work to improve the safety of all road users in Caithness through education, raising public awareness, improving road layouts and partnership working with the Safer Routes to School Programme
Related Businesses
Related Articles
Wick Business Park has welcomed wind energy technology company ENERCON as the first occupant of one of four new units completed last year. ENERCON specialises in designing, producing, installing and servicing onshore wind turbines and has been operating in the Caithness area since 2013.
Additional empty homes officers are being recruited to bring more privately owned houses back into use. The new posts are being supported as part of a £2 million investment through the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership in 2025-26 which will see staff take a more proactive and targeted approach to tackling local housing issues.
The Highland Strategic Local Action Group (LAG) met in June 2025 and considered and agreed funding for 28 projects submitted to the Community-Led Local Development fund (CLLD), which makes up part of The Highland Council Community Regeneration Fund (CRF) programme. CRF is an umbrella term used to cover multiple external funding programmes administered by The Highland Council.
Highland Council has provided 12 ‘Talking Tub' resources for use in primary schools across the Highlands, in partnership with Union Technical who deliver community benefits as part of the Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme programme. Chair of Highland Council's Education Committee, Councillor John Finlayson, said: "This is a fantastic initiative being rolled out across Highland primary schools which brings innovation and inspiration to early years children.
Visitors will find it easier to dispose of their litter at several popular spots across Highland after the rollout of additional bins. The rollout has been planned to support the tourism season as part of the Council's ongoing commitment to improve and support sustainable tourism in the area.
Members of the meeting of The Highland Council (26 June 2025) have considered and agreed the Accounts Commission's Best Value report, which was published in April 2025 and highlights organisational improvements across leadership, performance management and community engagement. In April’s report, the Accounts Commission recognised and welcomed significant progress within the organisation since the 2020 Best Value Assurance Report (BVAR) and commended the embedded culture of transformation.
A new generation of community facilities is being planned for the Highlands. At a meeting of The Highland Council (Thursday 26 June), elected members approved the work to date in progressing the Highland Investment Plan workstreams - masterplan for Thurso and agreed to nominate the current Thurso High School site as the preferred location for the new Thurso Community Point of Delivery (POD).
At a meeting of The Highland Council (Thursday 26 June 2025), Members received a progress report on the partnership approach and important successes since declaring a Highland Housing Challenge in November 2023. Since establishing the ambitious Highland Housing Challenge, important successes included: A call for sites delivered 250 sites, with a potential 25,000 housing units which will support delivery against the target of an additional 12,000 houses over the next 10 years.
The Highland Council will deliver a transformative programme of energy efficiency upgrades across Council housing supported by a £9.2 million Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding proposal secured by Union Technical. The funding proposal will deliver approximately 1,000 individual energy efficiency measures to Council owned properties across the Highlands.
As part of the Highland Council's celebration of Refugee Week - 16 to 22 June - we are delighted to announce that a sharing of photographs, taken by separated young people seeking asylum living within the Highlands, is to be shown at Eden Court Arts Centre, Inverness. Look to See, which ties in with the theme for this year’s Refugee Week - Community as a Superpower - emerges out of a collaboration between multiple agencies working alongside separated young people seeking asylum, embodying the importance of community and connection, when looking to support all young people in the Highlands.