Ten years has passed since the government axed the A350 Westbury Bypass; however the topic still remains a hot topic of conversation across the town.
The Westbury bypass was first prioritised by Wiltshire Council in the 1990s, when it was earmarked as the number one road project in the county.
It led to years of debate over which route the bypass should take, with opposing groups supporting either an Eastern or Western route. And whilst other bypasses and road projects, including those at Semington and Hilperton, have come to fruition, plans for Westbury have continually stalled.
The project seemed to move forward in the 2000s when plans for an eastern bypass were proposed, but they were turned down by the Secretary of State for Transport in 2009.
Inspectors condemned its transport case for not being good enough to justify the damage it would have done to the landscape under the White Horse.
In 2013, Wiltshire Council had tried to safeguard the bypass route by carrying it forward to the next draft local plan, but the inspector agreed with members of the campaign group, White Horse Alliance and legal advisers, that the route should be deleted. The council reluctantly agreed to delete it from the map for the county’s development to 2026.
However, last year the road returned to the spotlight after it was revealed that the A350 could be in line for extra funding as part of Government plans for a ‘major road network’ to link the M4 at Chippenham and the A36 in Warminster.
Talks continued when Bath & North East Somerset Council proposed the introduction of a clean-air zone last year, which would push even more traffic onto the A350 to avoid charges.
Andrew Murrison MP called for resumed lobbying for a Westbury bypass and the town’s own ‘clean air zone’.
During a town council meeting to discuss the response to Bath’s plans, Bridget Wayman, Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for highways, transport and waste said, “We are looking at the moment at an improved North/South route in conjunction with Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset County Council in the hope to achieve funding to make improvements to the road network and I hope it will include a Westbury Bypass.”
However, not all residents welcome the revival of plans for a bypass.
The White Horse Alliance, a group of national and local groups fighting Wiltshire Council’s plans for an eastern bypass, recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the axed plans.
They say, “Five million pounds has been spent by Wiltshire County Council on developing the scheme and it has gone to waste. Forty millions of funding allocated by the Regional Assembly was transferred to a more sustainable project – dualling the railway between Swindon and Kemble – an unprecedented modal shift of money.
“Wiltshire Council declined to support our proposal for an extension of the Cranborne Chase Area of Outstanding Beauty round the western escarpment of Salisbury Plain to embrace the Wellhead Valley and the famous White Horse cut into the chalk of Westbury Hill, despite backing from Westbury Town Council, the area board and several parish councils.
“On Saturday 6th July supporters of the White Horse Alliance gathered for a garden party overlooking the quiet valley they saved from the bulldozers and the roar of fast traffic a decade ago.”
Patrick Kinnersly, secretary of the WHA since its formation in 2007, thanked the members of the Westbury Bypass Alliance who had raised more than a third of the funds needed for the expert witnesses and legal advisers who presented an overwhelming case against the road at the public inquiry. and raised hundreds of pounds more on Saturday for the ongoing campaign against the A350 ‘growth corridor’.
He said, “If they can persuade council tax payers, housing developers and the government to cough up the money, which could be approaching £100m at today’s prices, Wiltshire Council will have another go at building this destructive road.
“Local people will be told it will improve their lives but they won’t be told that the council’s dream is to create a fast strategic road from Chippenham to Warminster and beyond to carry container lorries to and from the Channel ports, day and night.
“They won’t be asked if that’s what they want in the age of climate emergency or if there would be better ways to spend their money in an age of austerity when housing, healthcare, social services and public transport are all in crisis.”
