Press Release

The A24 Alliance meeting on Monday discussing the A24 Ashington-Southwater road scheme proved to be a lively one. Representing the County Council was Cllr Lionel Barnard, county councillor for most of the stretch of road.

Cllr Barnard explained that the County Council's position on the A24 Ashington-Southwater road scheme was that it was a multi-million pound safety scheme with funding allocated from the Regional Transport Board and that it had backing from locally elected bodies. This position was questioned by the local residents attending.

After comments that the existing road safety measures, including reduced speeds and safety cameras, had made a significant difference with no fatal accidents on the stretch in the last five years, one blighted property owner asked: "You've done a tremendous job with the calming schemes costing a few hundreds of pounds, why do you need to spend over £30 million fixing a safety problem that you've already fixed". To that Cllr Barnard just repeated safety was the main motivating issue. He also commented that as far as he knew the current safety measures would remain after any roadwork's were done. Asked if there was any other reason for the road scheme, such as creating a super highway, Cllr Barnard said he was not aware of any.

Regarding funding, one resident pointed out that the Regional Transport Board had no money, any money would come mostly from the Government, the Department for Transport, and a significant sum from the County Council. Moreover, the Government had refused to commit any money until it approved a new business scheme for the scheme. The question was asked: "Have you got a hope of getting any money from central government in the current economic climate?"

Several people also commented that the road scheme with flyovers and underpasses would make an insignificant difference to journey times as extra traffic diverted onto a perceived superior highway. This increase in traffic would result in more accidents, defeating the whole objective of the scheme. Others said that minor roadwork's to improve safety for properties joining and leaving the road as well as improved highways maintenance were needed, not such a grandiose and over the top scheme.

The lack of recent public consultation was criticised. Cllr Barnard said that a meeting for elected bodies had been held in October. In reply all those present said that they had not been told - even though they were the ones blighted - and had therefore been unable to talk to their elected representatives in advance, a democratic right.

Unfortunately, no council officer accepted the invitation to attend the meeting. This meant that many questions could not be answered, leading to several people leaving the meeting disgruntled. One said: "if they think they can spend millions of pounds of council tax designing the road, then they should be able to spend a few hundreds of pounds on an exhibition or meeting so we can get answers".

Speaking after the meeting, Peter Finch said: "Cllr Barnard should be commended for attending the meeting and answering questions to the best of his ability. His assurances that this was a safety scheme and nothing else, left many unconvinced that spending well over £30 million was necessary when the current safety calming measures were working so well. In the words of one blighted property owner "it remains a mystery why the Council are continuing with this unnecessary work". Residents attending the meeting were unanimous that the scheme should be dropped, the blight notices withdrawn and discussions started on road maintenance and minor roadwork's".

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Editors notes.