A ROAD improvement scheme for the Frogmore Road/Slag Lane area of town has been rejected by Wiltshire Council.
Westbury Town Council approached Wiltshire Council in November for help with funding the project that would have seen the area transformed into a safer space for residents and road users, with the introduction of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and new road signs.
The scheme was rejected in favour of other plans put forward, with Wiltshire and town cllr Gordon King saying, “the decision was made on the basis of cost alone.”
At the meeting of the highways, planning and development committee (HP&D) of Westbury Town Council, held on 20th December, councillors discussed the decision.
Chair of HP&D, cllr Mike Sutton said, “There is only so much funding available and it wasn’t deemed a priority. This may have also been because of comments from this council that the scheme didn’t fully address the issues raised by residents. I’d like to say it’s an opportunity now to revisit the plans and find a solution for Wiltshire Council’s community area transport group to consider.”
Cllr Gordon King added, “This doesn’t mean the scheme is dead, it just means we have to reapply in subsequent years, beginning next year. Other schemes were deemed to be more of a priority this year, even though they scored less [on the deliverability scores] than Frogmore Road actually scored, which is disappointing.”
Since the growth of housing development in the Frogmore Road/Slag Lane area, issues of safety for pedestrians due to increased and speeding traffic have been highlighted. The town council proposed their scheme to improve safety for pedestrians and road users alike, but admitted that it probably didn’t go far enough.
Whilst the housing construction continues, residents have complained about the effects of the construction traffic. A member of the public attended the meeting to draw councillors’ attention to these problems. She said that that heavy plant is parked on a road which is giving way. She also said that when resurfacing work was going ahead in the Slag Lane area, a company removed their heavy plant at 2.00am. In response, cllr Sutton said the council should write to say that this was unacceptable. He also said that councillors were unaware that Slag Lane had not been formally adopted by Wiltshire Council. “It was news to us,” he said.
