The SUDBURY SOCIETY

Caring for the Past and the Future

Western Bypass - 22nd January 2009

By 7:30 on 22nd January 2009, the Assembly room of the Town Hall was packed with about 130 citizens of Sudbury, who had come to hear the latest position on the Western bypass and to express their views.  The meeting was chaired by Lord Phillips, who read out messages of support from Tim Yeo MP, Peter Clifford and Bob Bird.

The Mayor of Sudbury, John Sayers, opened with reminiscences of the first campaign in 1972 and regretted that in 36 years no progress had been made.  A by pass at that time would have cost about £850,000.

Councilor Guy McGregor, Portfolio holder for Roads and Transport at Suffolk County Council introduced the presentation which was given by Peter Grimm, Strategic Policy Manager Transport.  The presentation followed the lines of the Local Transport Action Plan formulated by Mouchel Parkman and the Landscape Partnership in June 2005.  In addition he explained the complex process for deciding priorities.  A spread sheet was displayed, from which it was just possible to see the order of the projects, of which Sudbury was very near the bottom.  Guy McGregor later stated that he had been instrumental in preventing the removal of Sudbury altogether.

Barry Wall, chairman of the Sudbury History Society, then presented a short paper highlighting the inaccuracies in the LTAP in the historical summary.  He also pointed out that when considering the cultural heritage the bypass was stated to have a seriously adverse effect on the view of the Gainsborough landscape ‘Mr and Mrs Andrew’. He showed that the report failed to appreciate that the skyline has already been ruined by the industrial and housing estates and the view to the right had been obscured by tree planting at Ballingdon Hall.

The meeting was then thrown open to the house and some interesting points were made.

Marion Hopps suggested that the problem could be solved if a weight limit was placed on vehicles crossing Ballingdon Bridge and entering the town.  Councilor McGregor said the A131 was rated for HGV traffic and this could not be reversed.

John Taylor asked if it were not possible to programme Satellite Navigation systems to guide heavy traffic away from unsuitable roads.  He quoted an occasion when a very large East European lorry became stuck in Church Street by All Saints Church.  Councillor McGregor stated that it was technically possible, but required all regions to provide up to date information.  Suffolk has done this, but other regions have not.

There was discussion on how previous schemes had failed through lack of cooperation with the local authorities in Essex.  Councillor McGregor felt that fences had now been mended and this should not be a problem in the future.

Alan Manning pointed out that many car journeys were made because of the excessively high rail fares.  Another speaker hoped that improved rail connections from Felixstowe could take considerable amounts of freight off the roads.

In rejecting the bid in 2003, ministers said consideration should be given to the implementation of measures within the town centre to reduce and manage the impact of high traffic volumes and that the situation should be monitored over a number of years before any further consideration was given to bypassing the town.  Considerable concern was expressed throughout the house that these measures might not have been implemented or monitored.  Peter Grimm pointed out that his role was strategy, not detail.  The upshot was that Lord Phillips asked if people would attend a future meeting in 3 to 4 weeks time at which those responsible for the interim measures would be present.  An overwhelming majority agreed.

Nick Hallidie
Chairman
The Sudbury Society

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