Eco-town 'will cause chaos on roads' (From Evesham Journal)

Eco-town 'will cause chaos on roads'

8:34am Friday 30th May 2008

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THE government will inflict traffic chaos on the Vale and the Cotswolds if it proceeds with its proposal to build its so-called eco town' in Warwickshire, protestors have claimed.

Three residents of Warwickshire's Long Marston, where the government proposes to construct the town, have conducted an informal survey to assess the impact it would have on traffic.

They claim their survey shows more than 15,000 extra vehicles daily will be added to existing traffic on the B4632 road, the winding lane from Long Marston to Mickleton and the country lanes of the Cotswolds, South Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

The traffic was monitored at the two entry/exits to Trinity Mead, a housing estate at Stratford-upon-Avon, during the rush hours from 7am to 9.15am and 3.55pm to 6.10pm.

In the morning, the men counted 925 vehicles leaving or entering the estate.

In the afternoon, they counted 1,011 vehicles.

This amounted to nearly 2,000 vehicles within a five-hour period and they said there was a "significant" amount during the remaining 19 hours of the day.

They posted their findings to the eco-towns team at the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Their letter said: "There are approximately 800 houses in the Trinity Mead estate, and so mathematically, if there are 6,000 houses in the proposed new town we should reasonably expect them to generate well in excess of 15,000 vehicles per day."

They added that Stratford is already grid locked when the airfield adjoining the site of the proposed town holds its two major annual events, the Bulldog Bash and Global Gathering.

One of the men, Nigel Phillips, said: "What we're trying to do is really make sure that people wake up to what it will really mean.

"People should be aware that there will be total gridlock in Stratford and the surrounding areas.

"Traffic-wise it's going to be an absolute shambles."

A public meeting to discuss the implications of the eco town at Long Marston will be held at Evesham Town Hall on Friday June 13 under the chairmanship of Mayor Alan Booth.

Vale MP Peter Luff will be the main speaker.

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