Salisbury Transport Settlement

A crumb of comfort for Salisbury city and a savage blow for death valley.

Salisbury MP Robert Key has described John Prescott's transport settlement for Salisbury as a savage blow for the people of the Wylye Valley.

The settlement has been divided into three parts.

First - and the only crumb of comfort, is that the Government will spend £3.5 million in the next financial year on integrated measures for the city including park and ride, bus priority lanes, cycle ways and support for walking and pedestrianisation.

The second part of the package concerns the Brunel Link bridge from Churchfields Estate and the Harnham Relief Road. The Government has agreed in principle to put aside £13 million because the route has been selected and worked on for some years. However the statutory procedures and public enquiries necessary have been handed over to Wiltshire County Council who will have responsibility for seeing through this scheme. The people of Harnham are naturally concerned that heavy Churchfields traffic could stream along Harnham Road. This can be prevented by weight restriction orders. The County Council must also re-design the gyratory system at the southern end of Newbridge Road.

The third part of the package concerns the Wylye Valley. Robert Key said, "It will be some years yet before the residents of the Wylye Valley have their relief road. The Government has argued that because the route has not yet been determined, they cannot put aside any money at all. They have also announced the de-trunking of the A36(T) - which means they wash their hands of the maintenance and improvement to this road and hand it over to Wiltshire County Council to be paid for by local taxpayers and Government grants.

"The County Council will now have to determine the route for the relief road, take it through all the statutory procedures and public enquiries and then submit a bid for Transport Supplementary Grant in competition with other County Council schemes.

"During the consultation phase the Government told us they would be prepared to spend £46 million on Salisbury. They have left us £30 million short. All we can be sure of is the £3.5 million for the city and all we can hope for is £13 million for the Brunel Link and Harnham Relief Road.

"This announcement will surely satisfy no one. The County Council will have my full support in fighting for every penny it will take them to achieve what is only a partial solution to Salisbury's traffic problems.

"It remains my firm conviction that the only common-sense answer is a full-scale bypass as originally proposed and abandoned by this Labour Government."

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