Bowerhill residents speak out against bypass plans

BOWERHILL residents have spoken out against plans for a new A350 Melksham bypass.

The residents have expressed concerns about  one of the routes being considered for the bypass – ‘Option C’, which would connect the A350 north of Beanacre with the A350 Semington bypass, south of Bowerhill – explaining that it will be too close to their homes.

They have accused Wiltshire Council, who received government backing for the bypass last month, of not considering the living conditions of Bowerhill residents, and have suggested other routes should be considered, including building the bypass to the west of Melksham.

At the Melksham Area Board meeting last week, Peter Binley from Wiltshire Council’s highways department tried to offer reassurance to residents, explaining that it is still ‘early days’ and that a route for the bypass has not yet been decided.

At the meeting, one Bowerhill resident said, “It’s interesting that ‘route C’ comes through lots of countryside and obviously benefits Melksham a lot, but nobody seems to be giving any consideration to the people of Bowerhill, where this road will run so close to. Why are the plans not taking the road further round well away from the houses? If the road went to the west rather than the east, it would miss all the houses.”

Another resident added, “You seem to be putting the living conditions of the people in Bowerhill lower down in your scale of priorities than the speed of the traffic trundling along the road – you’re talking about screening (homes from the bypass) with a few trees here and there.

Wiltshire Council’s Peter Binley said, “The bypass could go further south, it could go west – we just don’t know yet.”

Wiltshire Council is now developing an outline business case for the scheme to enable it to progress to the next stage of development, which will involve exploring route options. 

A public consultation on the bypass is scheduled for 2021, followed by the submission of the planning application in 2022. If successful, construction of the bypass could start in 2024.