WILTSHIRE Council has published a report on the recent Melksham bypass consultation, which shares the views of the public, businesses and local stakeholders, such as town and parish councils.
The consultation was held between Thursday 5th November 2020 and Sunday 17th January 2021, with 1,018 people responding to the online consultation, and more than 175 email and written submissions.
Cllr Bridget Wayman, cabinet member for highways, said, “We had a good number of responses to the initial consultation on the proposed A350 Melksham bypass, and they are all detailed in this report.
“We have included all correspondence we received during the consultation in this report and its appendices to ensure all views are represented as we received them. I would urge anyone with an interest in the project to download and read the report to see what our communities and local stakeholders think.
“The next step for the project is for our officers to consider the responses collected through the consultation process and use them to develop and inform the assessment of the options in more detail. This will potentially identify a shortlist, or preferred option, which will be recommended to cabinet. Once these recommendations have been reviewed by cabinet, there will be a further round of public consultation to inform the Outline Business Case. We will have details on this consultation in due course.”
The A350 Melksham Bypass was one of the nine projects identified as a priority by the Western Gateway Strategic Transport Body, an alliance of south west local authorities that sets out the transport strategy for the region, as the road is a regionally important north-south route that connects the M4 to Poole in Dorset.
Wiltshire Council say, “The importance of the A350 to the local economy has long been recognised by Wiltshire Council, and the section of the road through Beanacre and Melksham, with several busy junctions and 30mph speed limits through residential areas, has been a concern for the council for many years.
“The A350 at Melksham is one of the busiest major roads in Wiltshire, with daily traffic volumes generally above 35,000 vehicles per day, and heavy goods vehicles accounting for around 8% of all vehicles.
“To read the full report and its appendices, plus detailed FAQs and more information about the proposed project, people should go to: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/ highways-a350-melksham-bypass.”
