FOUR bollards will be installed outside a property on Alfred Street following complaints that HGV drivers who use the street have repeatedly caused structural damage to the house.
Westbury Town Council previously agreed to install signs deterring HGV drivers from using the route, but there have been further incidents of structural damage to the house caused by HGVs.
The town council had previously agreed in May to install a bollard outside the property on Alfred Street, but the highways engineer has since suggested that one bollard would not be sufficient and that four should be installed instead. The additional cost would be £210, with the total cost at £700. Councillors voted in favour of the plans at last week’s meeting of the highways, planning, and development committee of the town council.
Speaking about the issue at the meeting, cllr Gordon King said, “The signage in that area has been investigated as we have been saying for a long time that the signage does not discourage use. The report suggests there are inconsistencies and confusion in the four signs in that location and that it doesn’t discourage people going up Bratton Road looking for the A350.
“There are plans to revisit the four signs but as the cost is £7,000, we cannot do anything until the next financial year.”
The house on Alfred Street has been reported as being hit by HGVs three times since it was first brought to the attention of the council.
A concerned resident sent a letter to the council after they managed to stop an HGV driver using Alfred Street. The letter read, “It would have been tragic if anyone was walking or pushing a pushchair along Bratton Road at the same time.
“The driver also did not notice the sign on the lamppost he was about to demolish (which kind of says it all)? This is now getting beyond a joke and it would seem that the council is powerless to resolve the issue. Making Alfred Street one-way with no entry from Bratton Road end would be a simple way of reducing this problem.”
Councillors said that the idea of making the area one-way would be the best solution, but as they have already looked into the possibility of making the narrow section of Bratton Road a priority for motorists approaching from the town centre, any new major plans for Alfred Street would, “knock that off the board.”
Pictured: An HGV on Alfred Street.
