MELKSHAM Without Parish Council has asked that evidence used to justify the need for a A350 bypass be looked at again in the “post-Covid climate”.
Echoing concerns raised by residents at two recent public meetings, the parish council has explained that evidence collected by Wiltshire Council before the pandemic is no longer relevant because of changes to how people travel and commute to work.
They have also said that Wiltshire Council’s and the Government’s ambitions to move to zero carbon emission targets over the coming years, and where the bypass project sits with those plans, should also be considered.
The parish council’s response to Wiltshire Council’s non-statutory engagement and consultation exercise about the A350 bypass project, also raises concerns about the proposed closure/diversion of various Public Rights of Way and bridleways; and calls for changes to the proposed route, including moving it further away from Bowerhill residents.
“The general consensus of the public opinion is that they are doubtful of the justification for this scheme, and feel that more up-to-date evidence is required,” say the parish council in their response to the A350 bypass consultation. “This is particularly as some evidence was collated pre-Covid and before improvements to ‘Farmers’ Roundabout.
“In the main, the residents feel that the Covid pandemic not only affected the results of surveys undertaken during 2020 and 2021 during the lockdown periods, but more importantly, that post-Covid there will be a widescale change in the way people conduct their daily life. That there has been a sea change and the previous working patterns of so many will change for good, and not return to pre-Covid levels in months and years to come.
“The shift to “working from home”, the use of technology instead of meeting in person, the preference to not commute daily and to have a more flexible working pattern will be here to stay, and therefore there is a general feeling that new evidence needs to be obtained to justify the requirement for the Melksham A350 Bypass in the light of the changing world.”
About the changes they would look to see to the proposed alignment of the bypass route, the parish council said, “The route to alter so that it does not cross Lower Woodrow as proposed, but closer to Melksham. This is to avoid sensitive properties such as a listed farmhouse with shallow foundations and a brand-new farm worker’s house, both of which are very close to the proposed route, one will almost be destroyed by the proposed alignment.
“More justification is given for the “eastern bulge” which brings the suggested alignment close to the community of Redstocks.
“The alignment to the East and South of Bowerhill is moved further towards the canal and away from village residents, such that the connection to the existing A350 may need to move further South.”
