Lorry ban move hit by bypass rejection
A bypass that had been held up as the key to getting a ban on lorries trundling through Bath to and from the south coast has been scrapped at the 11th hour.
Campaigners fighting plans for the £40 million Westbury Bypass were celebrating today after the Government decided not to grant planning permission for the road.
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Highway chiefs in Wiltshire had already started lining up workers and supplies of gravel to begin work on the controversial road, but Communities Secretary John Denham today threw out the scheme on the advice of a pair of planning inspectors.
His decision will make the long process of finding a way of steering heavy lorry traffic away from the city centre more complicated, with Bath and North East Somerset Council reliant on the building of the bypass to get approval for a weight limit at a spot such as Cleveland Bridge or Warminster Road.
There has long been concern at the impact of the lorries which come through Bath on their way to and from the south coast, but the most obvious alternative route would be the A350 through Wiltshire, which reaches a bottleneck at Westbury.
City MP Don Foster said there would be mixed feelings over the Government's decision, and he acknowledged that many people in Wiltshire would support the move.
But he said: "Anything that helps get traffic to avoid Bath rather than coming in and going out again would have been welcomed."
The ten-year battle over the three-mile long road around Westbury divided the town and cost taxpayers in Wiltshire £4 million as highway chiefs 'did everything they in their power' to get approval for the road.
Those who had fought against the bypass said they were 'elated and relieved' at a decision that they said would be welcomed 'from Chippenham to the south of Dorset'. The Westbury bypass was a major part of plans to upgrade the A350 from the M4 to Poole.
Pat Kinnersly, from the White Horse Alliance group, said: "It's an amazing decision, totally unprecedented. You don't normally defeat a bypass with just the objections of ordinary people, where the 'authorities' are all in favour.
"It has been a real cliffhanger, but thankfully the inspector agreed with us that this road was not the answer to Westbury's problems, and would not only create more congestion further up and down the road, but would also destroy a beautiful valley and wildlife habitat.
"We had heard that the regional government was putting a great deal of pressure on the Secretary of State to pass this road.
"It just shows what a bad idea it was in the first place, which is what we've been saying for ten years. Having worked on this, unpaid, for ten hours a day, for ten years, I am elated and relieved.
"Now I hope everyone can start looking at real solutions to Westbury's problems, which involve an integrated transport scheme, putting freight on the rails, and easing congestion all along this road."
In a damning report on the bypass idea, Mr Denham said the road would encourage more traffic congestion, damage the environment and that tortuous car journeys on the A350 in West Wiltshire were caused by problems elsewhere anyway.
Wiltshire Council's highways portfolio holder, Cllr Dick Tonge, said the authority was disappointed with the decision: "The decision will come as a blow to many residents and businesses in Westbury.
"We did everything in our power to try to get the scheme off the ground, as we believed it would benefit many residents and businesses in the town, as well as traffic using the A350.
"We will now examine the reasons behind the decision and decide the way forward."
The bypass would have cost £31 million of government money, £4 million from Wiltshire taxpayers, on top of £4 million already spent by the council.
The decision was supported by the Campaign for Better Transport pressure group.
Its Roads and Climate Campaigner Richard George said: "It should come as no surprise to anyone that this road was rejected, because it would have destroyed swathes of countryside but provided very few benefits for the people of Westbury. In fact the inspector found that it would have increased traffic levels along the A350, blighting Yarnbrook and other communities.
"This is just the latest victory for a coalition of local people which has already beaten numerous road building projects along the A350, including the Wellow Bypass, the Salisbury Bypass (and its clones), the Wylye Valley scheme and the Codford-Heytesbury scheme. It's time for Wiltshire and Dorset to drop their plans to build a motorway from Bath to the south coast by stealth, and focus instead on giving people real transport choices."
9 Comments
by Sam, Bath
Sunday, July 05 2009, 6:49AM
“I also think that one of the problems Geoff is that many people rely too much on their sat-navs - which most of the time seem to send people along the most congested route! The RAC and AA and other internet route-planning internet sites are no better.
They always give you the most direct route - which is always the most congested!”
by Geoff, Chichester, UK
Saturday, July 04 2009, 5:03PM
“There is an obvious and immediate answer to the traffic problems of Westbury and the appalling congestion at Cleveland Bridge. It is called the A34, which joins the M3 at Winchester to provide a dual carriagway route to the Midlands and, via the M4, the Bath, Bristol and Gloucester areas bypassing all towns on the way, for traffic from the Portsmouth and Southampton areas. If all commercial traffic were legally obliged to use this route and private cars strongly encouraged to do the same then Westbury's and Bath's problems on the A36 and A350 would disappear at once, or at least shrink to a manageable level..”
by Sam, Bath
Saturday, July 04 2009, 12:58PM
“If the Highways Agency put up signs directing the lorries the right way, and if the lorry drivers could be bothered to read a map, then this problem wouldn't happen.
Leave the M5 at junction 17, go south along the A350 which has a by-pass around Chippenham and a by-pass around Melksham. And guess what - the A350 also has a by-pass around Trowbridge. Then go on the link road over to the A361 south of Trowbridge which gets you onto the A36 which - guess what - by-passes Frome and also Warminster.
It isn't rocket science - and their is no need for traffic going to the south coast to pass through Bath or Westbury!”
by JM, Bath
Saturday, July 04 2009, 9:06AM
“""We need to share more vehicles, use the buses and trains ....""
So Walter, how exactly would that get rid of lorries? I believe that was the crux of the matter, and I expect you would be the first to complain if the shelves in the shops were empty or there was no petrol at the pumps. So more road space is required to get them out of the towns and the Westbury NIMBYS have put a stop to it. Congratulations! Wildlife can also thrive alongside roads, even motorways, but lorries can't drive through fields. Maybe we should all slow down a decade or ten and go back to shifting everything by rail and canal?”
by JC, Bath
Friday, July 03 2009, 7:43PM
“Etienne - More sense in your two posts that we get from our Politicians both national and local.”
by Etienne, Bath
Friday, July 03 2009, 10:33AM
“This is an answer for Walter.
I have a question for you
What do you advise me ?
Using public transport to travel from Odd Down to Corsham, knowing that cost me £140/months, with 3.5 hours travel/day, with all inconvenience that public transport has. Which I did for six months
Or, use the car, spend £40/month with less than hour/day, and flexibility.
Oh yes sorry, I could move to Corsham, which appears to be 50% more expensive than Bath. Why, because in UK you pay more money if you are in countryside.
In France, countryside is cheaper than city, simply because you do not have all services, and jobs available.
You, English people, who appreciates so much France, its roads, affordable properties and all that, did you ever wonder why that ?
Do not you think it is because some people have taken the right decisions?
I am convinced that environment respect and economic dynamism could live together!”
by Walter McCabe, Freshford Nr Bath
Friday, July 03 2009, 9:56AM
“This is excellent news for the alliance, the meadows the oak trees and the creatures of Westbury and beyond. We need to share more vehicles, use the buses and trains and leave our medieval countryside alone, whats it ever done wrong to us???”
by andrew.chappell, MDSOMER NORTON
Friday, July 03 2009, 8:41AM
“Excellent article Etienne, couldn't agree with you more.
Councils in England care more about their jobs than they do about road planning etc. Road taxes go to the government and they hand very little out for road improvements.when they do councils get it wrong ie fullers earth Bus lane !!!!!”
by Etienne, Bath
Thursday, July 02 2009, 8:56PM
“Just to let you know, I am french, and has been living in bath, for two years and a half.
I travel through Bath each day for commit to work, and The trafic here is a non-sense.
Indeed, a lot of traffic could be avoided by by(passing the city, ... there enough clever people, who are also enough well peid, to design something efficient and environment respectful.
If they want they can, as the commercial center.
Another non-sense, that I could not believe, the absence of a highway between Bath and Bristol.
I understand that people who paid a stupid amount of money for proportie on the outskirst of Bath do not want the valley to be crossed by a highway, but what is more polluting : being stuck on trafic, always on 1st or snd gear, and drving 5 miles in 1 hour, or driving 10 miles in 20 min ???
What is the alternative, public transport, who cost me, from bath to corsham, 3 times more expensives that a car, for 3 times less confort ????
Please people in council, stop being hypocrit !”