The Wyre Forest Agenda: 15+

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Blessed are we living in a democracy
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http://www.wfa.org.uk/2012/01/02.asp or http://t.co/YgkFJzM1

Happy New 2012 Stars in their eyes

	Monday, 2 January 2012
	15+
	by Tav

A new blurfer calls for help...

stal108
29 Dec 2011

I have a house on the Gilgal.... traffic nightmare.... 7 to 9am, 4 to 6pm help!

...so I'll put finger to the keys and write this blog. We are talking about the Government contributing towards Stourport By-Pass, a road and bridge across the river Severn. The main objective being to relieve traffic clogging up Stourport and, as stal108 suggests, is well past its required date.

So how much do we need? Well the figure of �80m has been mooted. In Philip Lench's blog, 'Money for old road' we find out the Department for Transport (DfT) has recently given �854m to transport schemes around the country. The nearest valued project is the 'North Fringe to Hengrove BRT (Bristol)' at �92.9m, which includes a contribution from the DfT of �51.1m. On the same ratio (55%) the DfT would contribute �55.2m and the county council �24.8m.

So what can we do? Well from our 'armchairs' we can join 15 others who have signed the petition...

Sources:
Lench, Philip (2011); 'Money for old road'; The Wyre Forest Agenda, 17 December 2011
Pitt, Tavis (2011); 'Stourport Bypass'; The Wyre Forest Agenda, 21 August 2011
Cooper, John (2011); 'LETS GET STOURPORT ON SEVERN A BYPASS'; e-Petitions

Campaigns:

Stourport Relief Road

Comments:

Terry Kent
2 Jan 2012 Done!

Tav
2 Jan 2012 Thanks Terry.

Neil Harman
2 Jan 2012 Oh dear. I did it months ago and it's still only 15.

Fran Oborski
2 Jan 2012 Sadly the north of the County does not seem to be much of a priority for highways spending.

Including a new bridge over the river, a Stourport By-Pass is quite a few Millions of �s and would have to be funded by Central Government. Still we can keep hoping.

Jonathan Cooper
3 Jan 2012 Well, I think it's fair to say that the likelihood of Stourport gaining a bypass/relief road is as remote as this particular petition reaching 50 signatories! However, I do thank the 17 people who have taken the time out to sign it.

In the past I have lived in both Mitton Gardens and the Gilgal; and I know the plight that the residents have with the influx of traffic in central Stourport. With the two major regeneration projects that are coming to Stourport Town Centre very, very soon; I can only predict that the congestion will only get worse.

In retrospect I think that the call for some form of relief road has probably come 40 years too late. I say this on the basis that if a major road overhaul within Stourport does become a reality, it will have obvious implications on the residents who are now located within the original plans for the bypass route. Mitton Park and the housing estate that was once the site of the old Power Station is in direct line for this proposed road system. Personally I feel that the clear distress for the people who now reside on these sites make the original plans for a bypass void.

It's a controversial view I know, but I do welcome regeneration to Stourport-on-Severn: But surely an assessment of the dated road network should have been considered before either Tesco or the Bridge Street project got the go ahead. Another question I'd like to ask is this: "Who was the bright spark who thought it would be a good idea to plant vast housing developments on the land reserved for a bypass?" It does appear that things get passed through planning without any consideration to the residents that will clearly get affected.

The results of these quite expansive housing estates is a significant rise in the population of Stourport-on-Severn. Stourport also relies and welcomes visitors to the town; but with an inner road network that has little changed for nearly two centuries. In certain places in Lower Mitton there is little or no footpath for safe access for pedestrians. I have sat in gridlocked traffic in Mitton Street and experienced the emergency services struggling to get through the mayhem. The stranded motorist cannot simply hop onto the path to let them pass by, as there is nowhere to hop onto. In my view, Stourport's ancient road network cannot cater for the needs of the 21st century, how this was overlooked in the first place totally staggers me!

For the sake of the 17 advocates of a Stourport Bypass/Relief Road, it's sad to learn that the possibility of this warranted venture will not be discussed at the appropriate level until at least 2027: And to be honest here, I really can't see this ever coming to any fruition at any time in the future sadly.

walkerno5
3 Jan 2012 We (Wyre Forest as a whole) also need much, much better routes to Birmingham and the motorways... Blakedown and Hagley in particular are horrendous chokepoints on the way out of our area and we will never secure new industries without better transport links.

Looking at wider transport issues, if we could also somehow move into the Centro area so that we're as well served by trains and buses as Stourbridge is that would be nice!

Fran Oborski
3 Jan 2012 We have asked to be in Centro area but can't because Worcestershire County is not part of it.

Sadly the Kidderminster by pass and Western Orbital which would have solved most of our problems were shelved by the previous Labour Government.

Stephen Brown
3 Jan 2012 The nightmare that must exist at times for people living on the Gilgal or Mitton St et al is recognised by those that live here in Stourport and there is no easy solution.

On one hand, as a Green, my view is that sadly, it is a culmination/combination of previous mismanagement on both local planning policy - and Government national policy on transport infrastructure.

Communities, thanks largely and originally to the car industry lobby and others, as well as outdated transport policy with its roots in the 1960's, have been left at the mercy of the developers. Of course, we all like the flexibility of the car and we cannot put the genie back in the bottle but there is a price. The loss of our local railway/station network etc. is one price and the necessary road system not being put in place in the day is another but that could never replace it and never will.

As for Wyre Forest as a whole and Stourport in particular, it seems the south of the county does get all the advantages and the question is why? We are in a pocket between South Worcestershire and the Black Country etc. and constantly get overlooked yet we have many of the economic disadvantages of the Black Country yet none of the investment or networks - and none of the network benefits of the south of the county which I perceive as richer anyways.

There is no balance and who is fighting our corner in the right way at the levels it really matters? That's the real question!

The latest chicken and egg over the enterprise zone bid supposedly failing in part due to infrastructure is another example.

We need a better economic/environmental balance and more a sustainable approach. I could stomach road building improvements (just) if it meant more inward industrial investment/advantages and better economic prospects (jobs) AND other public transport investment (i.e. Rail here) alongside it (at the same time) but one without the other will always cause problems and we'll be constantly playing catch up and endlessly overfilling roads either/or/both.

It is a disgrace however that we are constantly overlooked for either in Wyre Forest so suffocate and while Government (of all colours) and industry endorses the export of our wealth and jobs abroad (Bombardier/Dysons etc. the list is endless) joined up thinking or investment is never going to happen, they just do not have what it takes vision wise as it is always about 'how much money can we make and immediate cost rather' (?) than the good of communities or the country as a whole in the long term.